The Lost
by NiceGodzilla
Summary: This is a story that was inspired by Charlie Higson's: The Enemy series. And the Nickelodeon series: The Loud house. It is about a disease that affects everyone 16 and older. Turning them into cannibalistic, zombie-like creatures. The story follows Lincoln and his sisters as they struggle to survive in this new world. (Incomplete. Ending revealed in the last chapter.)
1. The Blast

**NOTE: I am not a very experienced writer, but I hope you can still enjoy reading this. If you notice any mistakes or errors please tell me so that I can correct them. Also, constructive criticism is welcomed.**

 **Also I will not include Lisa's lisp in her dialogue, sorry. Other than that I will try my best to stay true to the characters personalities, I will try to have Luna quote song lyrics, even though I don't know a lot of songs. And I will try to have Luan make puns, good or bad.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Loud House or any of the characters. They belong to their rightful owners.**

* * *

 **The Lost**

 **Chapter 1: The Blast**

 **1\. The Blast**

A cool breeze blew through the open windows into the classroom, sending a refreshing sensation through the warm afternoon air. Only ten more minutes until the end of the school day and Lincoln could go home and read comics in his underwear, and play video games. He was happy that, as a kid all he had to worry about was taking out the trash and sometimes his sisters bickering.

Mrs. Johnson went on with her lesson, but the class couldn't have cared less. It was Friday and there were only a few minutes left in the school day and once the bell rang, learning would be the last thing they would care about. They all looked forward to the innocent weekend activities that would envelop the next two days until they were sent back to the daily routine of school. That's what being a kid was about School, homework, chores, and then what little time was left was used for fun.

The clock ticked away, and the little hand was almost on the three. Lincoln looked outside and watched the trees dance in the wind as he thought of all the fun activities he could do outside. Although he and his sisters weren't allowed outside after dark because recently, a few kids in and around Royal Wood Michigan had gone missing, the police suggested a serial kidnapper. Lincoln quickly pushed that thought out of his mind and turned his attention towards the sky. There was hardly a cloud in sight, maybe he could fly a kite. That was the last pure thought he'd ever have because as soon as he thought that, he noticed a glowing speck in the sky that eventually grew bigger, and bigger.

 _What could that be?_ He thought.

The shape continued to grow, and Lincoln suddenly noticed a streak followed it. That's when he was hit with the realization that this thing looked exactly like a meteor. Lincoln watched as it came closer, and closer. It was heading right towards them. The meteor then caused the entire sky to light up even brighter than it already was. Everyone in the classroom turned and looked out the windows.

"Look out!" Lincoln shouted as he dove to the floor.

As soon as he hit the ground A loud bang filled the air and a shockwave caused the window glass to shatter and knocked all the kids off their seats. Screams of fright filled the room as soon as that happened.

And then, Silence.

Lincoln continued to lie on the ground with his face down until his ears stopped ringing, then he slowly poked his over his desk. He heard some kids crying and noticed that all the lights in the room were off.

 _What happened?_ He thought. The meteor just exploded before it hit the ground. _Could that happen?_ He continued to ponder. _Lisa would know the answer._

"Lisa!" Lincoln said to himself. He suddenly worried about his sisters. _Were they okay?_

The entire class soon got to their feet. They all looked to where their teacher was just standing waiting, she lay on the floor as well. The students waited for her to get up, but she continued to lay face down on the ground.

"Mrs. Johnson?" Someone said.

No response.

They all just stood in place. Lincoln eventually shot a glace over to where his best friend Clyde was standing, he looked at Lincoln and they exchanged worried glances.

Eventually, Mrs. Johnson shifted and mumbled something.

"She's awake!" Someone said.

They all hurried and surrounded her, waiting for her to get up on her own. She shifted to her side revealing a strange, angry, scowling face.

The entire class continued to stare at her in bewilderment until a girl said the teachers name again. The teacher quickly turned towards the girl and sprung at the poor defenseless child.

The girl barely had time to scream before the teacher chomped down on her left cheek. The entire class screamed. A lot of students ran out of the room while others just stood frozen in place. Lincoln and Clyde looked at each other again and this time their faces both showed fear.

Eventually a big kid went up, grabbed the feral teacher by the waist and began to pull her off the girl. A bunch of kids continued to stand and scream at the terrifying sight. Lincoln suddenly rushed behind Mrs. Johnson and began to pull as well, this instigated Clyde to help too. Lincoln and Clyde weren't that strong, but they were forceful enough to begin pry their teacher off the kid. As they tugged the teacher still had her teeth clamped down on the girl's cheek. Eventually they were beginning to make progress in pulling their rabid teacher off the girl, but as they did her teeth ripped a chunk from the girl's cheek. Even more kids ran out of the room at the sight of this. They successfully pulled their teacher off the girl and a student helped her up and they both ran out of the room with the girl covering her bloody cheek with her hand. Once they were out only Lincoln, Clyde, the big kid and three other kids remained. The teacher broker free of their grasp and quickly turned herself towards them and threw herself at Lincoln. Lincoln put his arms out to block the teacher, as she tackled him to the ground.

"LINCOLN!" Clyde Cried, as he and the remaining students sprang to help Lincoln.

They all lifted her off Lincoln and then they shoved her as hard as they could, causing her to fall backwards and bang her head on the corner of her desk.

They all stood around their teacher as she lay still on the ground. Blood began to drool out of the gash caused by hitting her desk and she was eventually surrounded by a pool of her own blood. One of the kids cussed as they all looked at each other wondering what to do now.

Clyde spoke up "W-w-w-w We need to go tell Principal Huggins…or a teacher or- "

A scream coming from the hallways grabbed their attention.

They all ran out to see that the halls were filled with absolute pandemonium. All the teachers were attacking every kid in sight. Lincoln and the remaining kids were transfixed on the chaos until one of the adults noticed them and ran at them at full speed. They all screamed and slammed the door. The adult crashed a hand through the little window on the door and grabbed one of the kids.

He screamed as the adult pulled him closer to the door, the adult tried to bite him, but he couldn't stick his head through the window. Three of the kids tried to help him while Lincoln and Clyde both scrambled towards the desks so they could shove them towards the door to use as barricades. As they did that the kid continued to scream as the teacher tried to drag him closer towards his mouth. Lincoln and Clyde tried to shove the desks up against the door, but the kid obstructed their path. Lincoln searched desperately for a way to fend off the adult, but the only thing they had were pencils. They would have to do. Lincoln told Clyde to grab as many pencils as he could hold in one hand and as soon as they gathered up all they could they both ran and drove the pencils into the man's arm. He hardly reacted.

Lincoln wondered why the man didn't let go, could he even feel pain?

They all then grabbed at the man's arm and pulled it against the window frame until they heard the bone in his arm snap. The grown-up lost his grip and the kid fell away from him, that's when Lincoln and Clyde quickly pushed the desks against the door and then the other kids joined them in piling the desks until they used up all the desks in the room.

Once they did that, there was finally a moment to breath, and breath they did because Clyde began to hyperventilate.

"What the heck is going on?" He yelled through gasped breaths.

"I don't know?" Said Lincoln, who was trying his best to calm his friend down.

"This is messed up, man," One of the kids said. "I need to get out of here!" He scurried to the windows and vaulted out the one of the broken windows. The other three kids soon did the same leaving Lincoln and Clyde alone in the room with the body of what used to be their teacher.

"What are we going to do Lincoln?" Clyde cried as he continued to breath heavily. He then collapsed to a sitting position.

Lincoln went and retrieved Clyde's inhaler. Clyde soon calmed down, but the hallway did not. The man outside continued to beat at the door with his unbroken arm.

"Clyde, we need to get out of here." Lincoln said urgently, pointing towards the windows.

"I don't want to go out there, Lincoln." Clyde begged

"We have no choice," Lincoln responded as he helped his friend to his feet. "That door won't hold forever, and we can't stay here."

Clyde knew that Lincoln was right, but he was still hesitant. Lincoln assured him that he had his back and with that, they both went over to the window and braced themselves for the carnage that they were most likely going to witness outside.

Lincoln and Clyde were greeted by the warm air as they hopped out the window and rushed as fast as they could away from the school. The cool wind was but a slight relief to their flushed faces. They were almost to the street when Lincoln skidded to a halt. Clyde noticed this.

"What's wrong, Lincoln?" Clyde asked, worriedly

"My sisters, they might still be in there."

Fear spread over Clyde's face. As much as going back in there was the last thing he wanted to do, he knew there was no way he was going to let his best friend go back in alone.

 **2\. Back into the nightmare**

They both ran to the front of the school. Where the doors were in constant motion from kids running out, all of them had the same look of fear and confusion as they ran past Lincoln and Clyde.

Lincoln turned to Clyde and told him that he didn't have to do this, that he could continue on to his own house, but Clyde's mind was made up, he was always going to have Lincoln's back. Lincoln nodded to his friend and then they both rushed into the building.

They bumped past several kids who wailed as they ran past them. Lincoln and Clyde paid them little mind until they noticed a girl running right to them who was being chased by an adult. They recognized the girl as one of their classmates, Mollie. Behind her was the school secretary, Cheryl. Her tall brown hair stuck out like a sore thumb. She had the same furious scowl as Mrs. Johnson, and Mollie was leading her right towards them.

"What now, Lincoln?" Clyde inquired.

Lincoln looked around desperately for something to use as a weapon. He quickly spotted an indoor flagpole that had a sharp looking point at the top of it.

"Clyde help me pick up this flag, we're going to use this like a spear."

A look of surprise developed on Clyde's face, but he quickly stored it away as he helped Lincoln remove the flag off the stand and hold it so that the sharp point was facing towards Mollie and Cheryl.

"Charge!" Lincoln shouted.

They ran at full speed towards the deranged secretary. They both yelled at Mollie to move, and she did just that; diving out of the way as Lincoln and Clyde zoomed past her.

The flag skewered the adult right in the stomach as Lincoln and Clyde thrusted it with all their might, But the secretary continued towards them as the pole dug deeper, and deeper into her. Lincoln and Clyde continued to push until the pole was poking through her entire body. Lincoln looked at Mollie was lying on the ground staring at them in dazed shock.

"Run!" Lincoln yelled at her.

That snapped her out of her stupor, her mouth moved like she was trying to say something, but no words came out. She eventually got up and continued to run as fast as she could.

As the grownup edged closer to them, Lincoln and Clyde to begin to shift around the teacher in a circular motion, luckily the hallway was big enough for them to do this. As soon as they were standing on the opposite side of where they were Lincoln turned to Clyde and shouted.

"Let's go!"

They both let go of the pole and ran as fast as they could down the hallway towards the part of the school where the younger kids' classes were.

The hallways were stained with blood, while kid's clothes and school supplies cluttered the entire floor. Lincoln prayed that none of the blood belonged to his sisters.

They soon reached where the third-grade glasses resided. Lincoln looked at the door until he saw the name of Lucy's teacher on one of the doors. Just like Mrs. Johnsons classroom, this room was also a wreck. There were chairs and desks that had fallen over, and books and papers were scattered all over the place. The blood on the floor of the room made Lincoln fret, He imagined all the kids clustering around the teacher, and- just like the case with his teacher- the adult getting up and grabbing one of them.

What if that poor kid, just happened to be Lucy?

"Lucy." He cried.

Clyde was about to tell Lincoln to be quiet when they heard a noise coming from the ceiling.

 _Lucy._ Lincoln thought to himself. It had to be her in the vents above them. She always spent time in the vents at home, so if anyone would know how to get into the vents at school, it would be her.

Lincoln repeated his sisters name and the sounds of someone shuffling in the ceiling above them came to a halt.

"It's me, Lincoln."

One of the ceiling tiles moved and a pale face poked out through the hole.

"Lincoln?" Said the girl in an uneasy voice.

Lincoln breathed a sigh of relief. Lucy was always a person who never really showed much emotion, but Lincoln could tell by the way she said his name that she was very frightened.

Lincoln held his arms open. "It's okay Lucy, I'm here."

The dark-haired child hoped down, and Lincoln caught her.

"Lincoln." She repeated; her voice cracking, she buried her face in Lincolns shirt and sobbed silently.

Lincoln uttered words of reassurance and asked her if she was okay. She nodded with her head still buried in his chest.

"What happened?" Lincoln asked, even though he pretty much knew the answer.

"I don't know?" Lucy whimpered, "I saw a bright flash from outside the window and then a loud bang. After that the teacher went psycho and bit down on one of my classmates, all the other kids ran away screaming after he did that, I just sat frozen in my seat as the kid broke free and ran away. Fortunately, the teacher didn't see me as he ran after him. Then I could hear screams coming from out in the hall. I was too scared to go out there, so I unscrewed the screws on the vent and hid in it." She pointed to an opened vent cover. Luckily, she always carried around a screwdriver.

Lincoln gave her another hug and then told her that they had to go find her younger sisters.

"I don't want to go out there Lincoln, there's nothing but pain, misery, and death."

"We have to." Lincoln urged her. But she was still too scared to move. "Lucy, please." He continued to tug on her arm until he noticed that her head was facing towards something behind him. Lincoln braced himself for what he was about to see and turned around. There stood Lucy's teacher in the doorway. His face was stained with blood and wore the same furious glare as all the other adults.

 **3: Defending your loved ones.**

The three children stood horror-stricken at the adult that stood before them. Lincoln knew he had to search for something- anything, to defend his sister, but he was too afraid to break eye contact from the teacher.

"Lincoln-" Was all Clyde could say before the deranged adult charged them.

Lincoln and Clyde both screamed, while Lucy's mouth hung open although no sound escaped from it.

Lincoln shoved her along as they ran behind some desks that were huddled together. They stopped and stood behind the jumbled desks, facing the teacher who stopped at the other end of the pile and tried to decide which way he should charge them from. He bobbed to his left which made the three kids bob to their left. He stopped and then began to weave towards his right causing the kids to do the same. Eventually the teacher seemed to know what they were trying to do and instead jumped on top of the desks and continued towards them. They all screamed and ran. The teacher tried to run towards where they were going to be and cut them off, but he slipped on a book that was on the desk and fell forward. Even as he fell, he swung at them and missed which caused his face to be completely exposed as it planted on the ground.

Lincoln, Clyde, and Lucy continued to run, eventually escaping from what used to be Lucy's teacher.

"Now to find my other sisters," Lincoln said to Clyde. "Let's check Lola and Lana's classroom, it's in the first-grade section of the school. Hopefully they're still there, safe and sound."

As they continued towards the twin's classroom they passed scenes that were way too familiar to all the others: blood, body parts, scared children, dead children. Lincoln had already found one sibling alive and unharmed, could he be fortunate enough to find the others alive as well?

They soon reach Lola and Lana's classroom. Lincoln held his breath as he, Clyde, and Lucy entered the room.

The classroom was surprisingly neat. It didn't have school supplies or body parts strewn throughout the room. Lincoln scanned the room and noticed the desks, one of them was dirty and smudged with dirt; Lana. And another one was clean and had glitter spread across it' Lola. He then noticed a stain on the floor. The proximity of the blood to his sister's desks made Lincoln panic

He followed the trail of blood to the corner of the room and noticed a body that was that of a teacher lying flat on her stomach with a huge wound on her head. Behind the teacher, sitting huddled together with their faces pressed against each other's shoulders to hide their terrified faces were Lana and Lola.

Lincoln said their names.

They both looked up and their tear stained faces lit up with relief and joy when they saw their older brother.

"Lincoln!" They both cried as they stood up. They both had some blood on their clothes and Lana was grasping a monkey wrench that was stained with blood as well.

As happy as Lincoln was to see his sisters, his heart sank once he put two and two together.

The twins ran up to Lincoln and they embraced each other tightly; Lincoln not caring if he got blood on his shirt.

"Are you two okay?" He asked as he gingerly pulled them away. "The blood on your clothes…"

"We're fine." answered Lana.

"But all the blood…" Lincoln began.

Lana told him that after the blast had happened the teacher went nuts and attacked a student that was sitting right next to Lola. So, Lana pulled the monkey wrench from her desk and struck the teacher in the head until the student could get away. Then the teacher pushed Lana off her and tried to attack Lola. This time Lana dove on the teacher and kept hitting her on the head as she chased after Lola, until she stopped moving. Lana and Lola were both sobbing by the end of the story.

Lincoln pulled them in for another tight embrace telling Lana how brave she was to protect Lola; which made her smile. He then told them that they had to get out of there and find Lisa.

Lana gripped her wrench tight, and Lola began to cry even harder.

"I can't go out there, Lincoln. I can't!" Lola was inconsolable at this point.

Lincoln turned towards Lana. "Will you be able to run?" He asked.

Land nodded.

"Okay," Lincoln said as he picked Lola up. "Hold onto Clyde's hand and don't let go no matter what."

They all continued towards the halls where the kindergarten class resided. Hoping for the best but expecting the worst.

Lola kept her face buried in Lincolns shirt. He didn't mind, he didn't want her to see the carnage as the passed by puddles of blood and dead kids. Lincoln wondered where the grownups responsible for these slayings were, but at the same time he didn't want to find out. They passed room after room of the same chaotic scene until they reached Lisa's classroom.

The door was ripped open and inside the room were the remains of dead students. Particles of clothing, and body parts were scattered all over the place. Lincoln dreaded the fact that any one of those parts could belong to Lisa.

Lola began to pull her head away from Lincolns shoulder, but he put his hand on the back of her head and pressed it back against his shoulder and told her not to look.

They all gasped when they noticed the body of Lisa's teacher: Ms. Shrinivas, lying on the floor, with her face melted off.

"What happened to her face?" Asked Clyde.

Before Lincoln could say that he didn't know they heard a small drawer opening from one of the storage tables against the wall.

They all turned towards it to see Lisa's poking her head out.

"Lincoln?" She said in a voice that was surprised, but didn't show as much fear as his other sisters.

"Lisa!" They all said in unison.

Lola lifted her head away from Lincoln to see her younger sister. Making her way towards them. She tried her best to ignore the bloodshed all around them. But she couldn't ignore the fact that Lisa's clothes were also stained with blood.

Lincoln wrapped an arm around her when she reached him.

"Lisa, are you okay?" Lincoln asked her just as he had with his other sisters.

Lisa told him that she was fine and that the blood was from the other students.

Lincoln was glad to hear that she was okay, but then he felt bad for being glad. He looked around at all the body parts that belonged to the dead children. Children who probably had siblings who weren't as fortunate as Lincoln. By some miracle all his sisters so far were unharmed. He then asked Lisa what happened.

Lisa recounted the horrors that had befallen her and her class.

The teacher; Ms. Shrinivas was in the middle of reading the class a story while Lisa was busy with her experiment on the opposite side of the room, as she always was. When they all hear a loud explosion from beyond the walls of the classroom, it caused the ground to shake and then the lights went out. The entire class began to panic, as her teacher tried her best to calm them down. That's when they heard screaming coming from outside of the room. Ms. Shrinivas went out to see what was happening, but then she rushed back into the classroom, locked the door, and leant against it. All the kids were speaking at once, asking what was happening, but she just slid down to the ground and began to weep. All the kids began to really get hysterical now, and that's when Lisa's teacher began to cough harshly and seemed to have a tough time breathing. Then she rose her head up to show what Lincoln could only imagine was the same disturbing face that all the other adults had. All the kids screamed and cried as she bound towards them and began to devour them one by one.

Some of them tried to escape but couldn't because the door was locked. That's when Lisa tried to call her robot Todd to save them, but she couldn't because the device she used to summon it wouldn't work, it was like its batteries had been drained. So, Lisa decided to mix her chemicals until she concocted something to defend herself. She only had one shot to use what she had created so she could only watch in horror as her teacher continued to devour her students. That was until Lisa's friend Darcy was in her line of sights. Lisa quickly sprang into action and yelled at her teacher as loud as she could. The teacher turned and was met with a face full of Sulfuric acid.

Lisa said the wail that Ms. Shrinivas let out was indescribable. Her teacher then fell to the ground and Lisa watched as her face melted off. Once she was dead Lisa took her keys, told Darcy to stay close to her, and opened the door. That's when they were met with a large towering figure that they all recognized to be that of their gym teacher: Coach Pacowski.

With lightning fast speed he swiped-up Darcy and chomped down on her head. Lisa screamed her name, but her voice was drowned out by the screams of the few remaining kids in the class. Lisa knew it was too late for her friend. She tried to set her sights on the hall past the grownup, but the coach blocked the entire doorway. All the other kids stood frozen in place, screaming and crying. Lisa knew that running was not an option she had to hide, but the classroom was small, where could she hide? That's when she remembered the table where her vials and chemicals were set. She instantly ran to it and hid in the drawer. She closed her eyes tight and covered her ears to block out the nightmarish sounds of death coming from outside.

Lincoln just stood with his mouth hanging open once Lisa finished her story. Lola buried her face back into Lincolns shoulder, Lana was on the verge of tears, Lucy stood silently looking down, and Clyde's breathing was heavier than it was at the beginning of the story. All while Lisa just stood with her face stone cold, like she was unfazed by what had just happened.

"Lisa..." Lincoln began as he reached to put a hand on his sister's shoulder. But he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Lincoln!"

They all looked to see a boy with a bowl cut standing in the doorway. Lincoln recognized the boy as one of his friends: Liam. Liam was looking at Lincoln and his sisters but then he turned his attention towards the gruesome scene that surrounded the group and his eyes filled with tears. Lincoln suddenly remember that Liam had a younger sister who was in the same class as Lisa.

"Liam…" Lincoln began but then a large mass appeared behind the crying boy. "Behind you!"

Liam looked over his shoulder to see the grotesque form of coach Pacowski. Liam barely had time to react before the large adult swiped him up and bit down on his head in one continuous motion.

Everyone screamed as the coach blocked the doorway and tore into Liam.

Lincoln looked desperately for something to help them out. That's when he noticed an air duct vent in the corner of the room. He remembered how Lucy said she unscrewed the screws to hide in the vents earlier.

"Lucy the vents!" He shouted over his sisters screams. Lucy heard him and saw that he was pointing towards the vent in the corner. She knew exactly what his idea was. She rushed over towards the cover and began to unscrew the screws as fast as her wrists would allow her to.

Lincoln set Lola down and told her, his sisters, and Clyde to follow Lucy into the vent while he distracted Coach Pacowski.

"NO!" They all cried.

"Just do it!" He implored them, "I can out-maneuver him."

Lisa and Lana relentlessly ran over to Lucy, but Lola began to cry and wrapped her arms back around Lincoln.

"GO!" Lincoln shouted at Lola, whose tears really started to flow down her cheeks.

Clyde heard this and grabbed Lola to drag her away. Lola went from crying to shrieking, and flailing as Clyde continued to haul her away towards the others. Lincoln was astonished that Clyde was managing to hold onto her.

Lincoln quickly turned his attention back to the coach who was already half-way done with Liam. He then looked for anything he could use to defend himself but all that lay around were bodies and kid toys soaked in blood. Lincoln couldn't believe one grownup could cause all of this. He looked back at the Coach who had now finished consuming the small boy and was barreling straight towards Lincoln.

Lincoln risked taking his eyes off the coach to shoot a quick glance at Clyde and his sisters. Lucy was still working on the vent and only had one more screw left. Meanwhile, Clyde was still holding on to Lola and had a hand over her mouth while his other sisters just stared at him with wide eyes. He looked back at the coach who was now within arm's reach. As soon as Lincoln realized this he dove to his left and somersaulted away, all that time playing virtual video games really paid off.

Lincoln's sudden movements confused the coach who began to look around the room. Lincoln was afraid he was going to spot his loved ones, so he yelled at the adult. The coach quickly turned around and made another rush towards Lincoln. Lincoln briefly considered leading the adult into the halls but decided not to take his chances running into other adults.

Lincoln kept diving as the coach continued to make grabs at him. The adult was stupid, but fast. Luckily Lincoln was faster. He managed to keep some space between the coach and himself.

Lucy finally finished unscrewing the final screw and removed the hatch. She let her younger sisters crawl in first and then Clyde let her crawl in before him. He turned and hollered at Lincoln, who was standing behind Coach Pacowski.

They both looked at Clyde who quickly crawled into the vent. Lincoln took a step backwards as the coach looked back at him.

All Lincoln had to do now was evade the infected adult one more time. The coach made another grab at Lincoln who dove again and sprinted as fast as he could towards the vent. The grownup was keeping pace. Somewhere in his sick twisted mind he realized the Lincoln was about to escape and the thought of losing a meal sent him into a frenzy.

Lincoln knew he had to make a clean dive into the small vent, Lincoln just imaged the vent as a slip-n-slide. An activity Lincoln was probably never going to do again. He gave it all he had as he dove into the enclosed darkness of the vent. The edges of the vent scratched his arms and he slid on the cold metal. He was in, but he wasn't far enough in for Coach Pacowski to grab his shoes. Lincoln screamed and kicked frantically. Clyde and Lincolns sisters were powerless to help, as the vent was too small for them to turn around. Luckily Lincoln was able to squirm away due to the blood on Coach Pacowski's hands. The grownup tried to crawl into the vent, but he was too big.

"Crawl!" Lincoln shouted. The tight space made his shout loud and clear. Lincoln, Clyde, and the girls all crawled for their lives, as the roars of the adult that used to be their gym teacher began to fade.

They continued to crawl deeper and deeper into the darkness, with only passing vent covers providing the slightest hint of light. They tried their bests to ignore the sounds of chaos coming from below them. Lucy was fourth in line and called out directions as they reached intersections. Lucy had spent so much time in the vents she practically knew them like the back of her hand. Eventually they reached the back of their school. Lucy handed Lisa her screwdriver, so she could get the vent open. Once she was done she pushed the cover off and they were greeted with the bright sunlight.

4: The Trek Home

Lisa was able to position herself so that she would land feet first when she hit the ground. Luckily, they weren't that high up, so it didn't really hurt when she landed. She looked up at Lola and told her to jump. She was hesitant at first and it took some encouragement from her sibling to get her to leap. Lana, however leapt with no hesitation, followed by Lucy, Clyde and Lincoln. Once they were all safely on the ground Lincoln hugged his sisters, once more.

Then once they were done, Lola spoke up. "Lincoln, you could've gotten yourself killed!" Her eyes began to water again, and she pressed her head back against Lincolns body and wrapped her arms around him.

Lincoln put a hand on her head. He tried to search for the right words to console her, but they needed to focus on getting to their house as soon as possible. They had to go see if their mom and baby sister were okay. Lincoln was glad that his youngest sister Lily was sick, not sick like these adults were but sick as in she had a cold. So, their mom had to stay home and watch her.

That's when Lincoln was struck with a horrifying realization. From what they had seen, only the adults were acting crazy. Why was that? No time to wonder that now, they had to get home as soon as possible. Lincoln lifted Lola up again.

Lincoln turned to Clyde and his sisters. "Come on, guys. Let's the heck out of here." And they ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

The world outside was just as dangerous as the world inside the school. Everywhere they looked the same scene played out. Kids running all over the place, with the grownups attacking and devouring the kids who weren't fast or strong enough to defend themselves.

They passed several bloody scenes just as they had in the school. Lincolns heart dropped when they passed a baby stroller that was knocked over and covered in blood. All the while the same questions repeated in his head: Was his mom okay? Was Lily okay? Were his older sisters okay. How old did someone have to be to be infected? All these thoughts swirled around in his head like a tornado.

Just then they came across the body of an old lady that was lying in the middle of the sidewalk. Lincoln recognized the body, it belonged to a woman that was always riding around on a scooter. Scoots is what they called her.

They all ran around the body, but as Lincoln tried to run around it, the body suddenly came to life and grabbed Lincoln by the leg. He and Lola both screamed, getting the attention of his sisters and Clyde.

Lincoln tried to throw Lola away from him to get her out of harm's way, but she was latched onto him, so all he could do was stagger away from the old lady that clung onto his legs. All while Lola continued to scream in his ear. Clyde and Lincolns sisters ran to him and tried to drag him away from Scoots, but she held on tight.

That's when Lana hurried behind her and proceeded to whack Scoots on the back of the head with her wrench until her grasp loosened on Lincoln. Even when she let go Lana continued to hit her on the head until she stopped moving. Once it was over they all stood and stared at Lana and the body that lay before them.

"They go down faster if you hit them in the head." Lana said as she wiped sweat from her forehead.

Lincoln barely heard her say that since his ears were ringing from Lola screaming just a few seconds ago. The pitch of the ringing began to get lower and lower, Lincoln was confused, in all his years of living in a house as loud as his he had never heard ringing like this.

"Uh, Lincoln…" Clyde said.

Lincoln wondered how he could hear Clyde despite his ears ringing.

"I know." Said Lincoln as he continued to stare at the dead body in front of him.

"No, not that, _that_."

Lincoln looked up at Clyde who was staring wide-eyed and pointing at something in the distance him, Lincoln then noticed that his sisters also had the same look of shock on their faces. He looked behind him and his heart nearly stopped.

"Oh, shhhhhhoot." Lincoln caught himself from swearing but given what he was seeing he figured swear words were appropriate.

The low-pitched sound he was hearing suddenly made sense, because barreling down from the sky was none other than a Boeing 747 airplane.

Lincoln turned back towards everyone and shouted.

"RUN!"

Clyde and his sisters didn't need to be told twice. They turned and sprinted while Lincoln turned back towards Lana who was still behind him and the woman she just put down, gawking at the approaching jumbo jet.

Lincoln grabbed her by the arm which broke her out of her stupor and she began to run too, He let her get a few steps ahead of him and he firmly grasped Lola against his body and began to run as well.

The roar of the plane was tremendous, the low-pitched sound grew higher and higher the closer the plane got to the ground. It was louder than anything Lincoln had ever heard before, and that included when he would stand right next to his musically talented sister Luna's guitar amplifier at max volume when they sometimes played together in their family band.

Just when he thought the world couldn't get any louder, the plane crashed to the ground and exploded in a massive fireball.

Lincoln shut his eyes tightly as the explosion knocked them all down. He quickly turned as he was falling so he could land on the right side of his body to avoid hurting Lola.

A scorching sensation traveled over the parts of their bodies that were facing the explosion. The ringing in Lincolns ears returned, only this time it was way more intense, so intense in fact, that he could barely hear Lola screaming even thought she was right next to his face.

After a few seconds of laying on the ground Lincoln opened his eyes. His vision was blurry. He blinked several times until his vision cleared up. He looked down at Lola and loosened his grip on her head, so he could get a look at her face. What he saw broke his heart. Lola's face was contorted with fear, and engulfed with tears with her mouth open in a continuous wail. Lincoln then began to get up and gently drew Lola's head back against his chest. He looked over towards Clyde, and his other sister who were already sitting up. Lucy had her hands pressed up against her face and her teeth were gritted shut like she was trying to keep herself from crying. Lana was sobbing and still tightly clutching her wrench. Lisa was just staring open-mouthed at the roaring fire that was emerging from the plane. And Clyde was sitting on the ground, covering his ears with his eyes shut tightly. Lincolns eyes began to water at the sight of his terrified sisters and friend. Now he was blinking to clear the tears away, he didn't want any of his sisters to see him crying. He had to be strong for them.

"Clyde." Lincoln said.

Clyde's eyes remained shut. There was no way he was going to hear Lincoln's voice. Even Lincoln could barely hear his own voice due to the ringing in his ears.

He walked over and poked Clyde's head.

Clyde opened his eyes and Lincoln could tell he was crying.

"Get up, we have to keep going." He insisted.

Clyde wouldn't budge he just stood and stared at him. Lincoln knew Clyde probably couldn't hear him, but he had to at least have an idea of what he was saying.

"Come on!" Lincoln urged, still being unable to hear himself talk. But he could tell his voice was loud due to him still being able to feel the vibration in his throat.

Clyde turned and looked at the fire that resulted from the plane. His eyes grew even wider.

Lincoln felt a tug at his arm. He looked down to see Lana looking and pointing at the plane wreckage. Lincoln looked, and his heart almost stopped again.

They all stared tensely as figures began to emerge from the monstrous flames.

Adults!

a large mass of grownups appeared from waves of flames like demons escaping from the pits of hell. Not a single adult seemed to care that they were on fire.

They were all transfixed by the nightmarish sight.

Lola- whose head was still buried against Lincoln's shoulder began to strain her neck to see what they were all looking at. Her movement broke Lincoln out of his trance. He tried to bring her head back towards him, but he was too late. She saw the approaching, scorched forms of the adults and screamed. Lincoln could barely hear her due to the ringing that was just beginning to fade, but he could tell she was screeching loudly.

Lincoln pressed each of his sisters on the shoulders to break them out of their stupors and yelled at them to run, they did just that. Then he grabbed Clyde by the shoulder and hoisted him to his feet. He put his face up to Clyde's face to emphasize what he had been telling him.

"I said RUN!"

That finally broke Clyde out of his daze.

They were all back to running for their lives. Lincoln daring not to look back at the blazing monsters that were pursuing them. A gnawing sensation of pain began to encompass his legs. He knew all that running was taking a toll on his body, but he wasn't going to let it stop him, he had to keep going for his sisters who he was sure were beginning to get just as sore as he was. The only difference was none of them were carrying a forty-something pound six-year-old. Still, there was no way he was going to slow down- not until they reached the safety of their home, which was beginning to come into view.

Lincoln turned his head around to get a glance behind them. The burning adults were getting further and further away, but he could still see the flames from the plane dancing in the distance.

They were only a few houses away from their home. The place where he and his sisters had spent their entire lives. To them, no place seemed safer.

They were now in front of their neighbor, Mr. Grouse's house. Soon, all their worries and problems would be eased. Soon, they would walk through their front door and be greeted by their mom, who will be so relieved to see them all alive and unharmed. She'd hug them all in a nice, warming embrace and assure them that everything would be okay, and nothing would be able to hurt them ever again.

"Lincoln look out!" Clyde shouted.

Lincoln woke from his day-dream and looked to see his infected neighbor Mr. Grouse charging at him with a rake.

They all screamed as their elderly neighbor reached Lincoln and swung his rake in a blind rage.

Lincoln dove out of the way and landed on his right side again. He looked back up and Mr. Grouse came swinging at him again. Lincoln wasn't going to be able to get up and out of the way in time. All he could do was hold Lola tighter to him and brace himself.

The infected adult rose the rake and prepared to swing downward.

"No!" Clyde shouted, as he latched onto the end of the rake and held onto it with all his might.

Then Lincolns sisters did the same.

"No, don't!" Lincoln shouted.

He didn't want Clyde or his sisters to put himself in harms way for his sake.

Lincoln quickly got to his feet and gingerly pulled Lola away from his body. He told her to run to their front door as he tried to set her down. But she was reluctant. Lincoln pleaded with Lola to hurry as he tried his best to get her to let go of him.

Mr. Grouse began to shake the rake as Clyde and Lincolns sisters held onto it with all the strength they could muster. Eventually, they couldn't hold on any longer and the force of the shaking rake sent them flying a few yards away.

Lincoln shouted again and the old man looked back at him with the same rage-filled face that every other grown-up had.

Lincoln was terrified, but he had to stand between his neighbor and Lola, who- thanks to her stubborn fear was still in harms way.

Lincoln wished Lola had run when he told her to, but he understood that she was scared. They all were.

Lincoln then grabbed Lola by the hand.

"Get ready to run," He told her. "and no matter what, don't stop until you reach the door."

She just responded with a gurgled sob and a nod.

Lincoln knew that she wouldn't be able to run very well since she was wearing a dress and she was no longer wearing any shoes. Her heels that she usually wore must've fallen off some time ago.

Their neighbor charged at Lincoln again. He ran and tugged Lola along, putting himself between her and Mr. Grouse, ducking as he swung his rake at him again. Lincoln then let go of Lola's hand and watched as she continued to run towards the door to their house. She then noticed that Lincoln was no longer beside her. She turned back and cried his name.

"Keep going!" He told her.

He then looked at Clyde and all his other sisters.

He told them to run too.

Clyde stretched his arms around them and hurried them too to the door.

Lincoln looked back at his neighbor who was rushing at him again. He couldn't believe how fast Mr. Grouse was moving at his old age.

He quickly jumped out of the way as the adult swung his rake again, only this time Lincoln slipped on dog poop as he skidded across the ground.

Mr. Grouse came at Lincoln again, as he lied on the ground.

Lincoln desperately tried to get up, but he was exhausted. He had been more physical in the last hour than he had all week, and he was always busy, he did have 10 sisters after all.

As Lincoln struggled to find the energy to act fast, he wished more than anything that none of this was happening. He thought today was going to be like every other day. He just wanted to be in his room reading his comics in his underwear, and planning what activities he would do tomorrow, and the next day. Like video games, going to the arcade, going to the park, watching his favorite shows, playing with his friends, and spending time with his sister's. He never would've thought that he'd meet his demise by his neighbor, Mr. Grouse.

The grown-up raised his rake yet again, and shrieked as he prepared to deliver a lethal blow.

Then- over the roar of Mr. Grouse, Lincoln heard one of his sisters cry out, and Clyde shout something.

Lana suddenly appeared and grunted as she struck Mr. Grouse in the ankle as hard as she could with her wrench, causing a snapping sound.

Their neighbor dropped to one knee and planted the handle to the rake against the ground to support his weight.

He then swung at Lana and struck her in the face with his hand.

"Lana, no!" Lincoln cried.

His other sisters quickly rushed to Lincoln and Lana's aide. Clyde desperately tried to grab whoever he could to stop them, but they were too quick. They all leapt and piled on Mr. Grouse's back he dropped to the ground under their weight. Lucy then took out her screwdriver and plunged it right into the back of Mr. Grouse's head, ending the old man's strain of rage.

Lincoln just lied there stunned at what he had just witnessed.

His sisters stared at Lucy as well, who seemed to be just as taken aback at what she had just done as they were.

She then turned at them and noticed the discernment on their faces.

"What else was I supposed to do?" She asked.

It took a few seconds before anyone said anything. In that time the only sounds were the sounds of screaming kids, and wailing adults coming from the distance.

Finally, Lana Spoke up. "She's right. We had no choice," She then looked at her wrench she had used earlier it still had blood stains on it. "We have to protect each other."

Lincoln began to get up as Clyde reached them after standing in silence.

"I'm sorry man," Clyde cried. "they were so fast, I- "

"It's okay." Lincoln told him. Before looking back at his sisters.

"Thanks, for the help," He began as he stood up and walked towards his sisters. "But I don't want any of you to do something as reckless as that for me, ever again." His voice was stern by the end of his sentence.

His sisters all stared at him with worried and slightly puzzled expressions.

"We were just trying to protect you." Said Lana.

"That's my job." Lincoln responded as he stretched his arms out and hugged all his sisters in a comforting embrace.

They all held each other for a few seconds ignoring the world that was continuing to plunge deeper, and deeper into chaos.

"Come on," Lincoln finally said. His voice bringing them all back to the cold reality. "It's not safe out here."

He motioned towards the door waited for them all to get in front of him and Clyde. They all took one more look at their dead neighbor. Lucy debated whether to remove the screwdriver from his head and take it with her, before finally deciding against it. She had plenty of screwdrivers and other tools in her room.

Lincoln spoke once they were all standing on the front porch.

"I'll go in first."

They all nodded.

Lincoln looked at Clyde who nodded as well.

"I'm right behind you, buddy."

And with that Lincoln slowly turned the doorknob.

 **5\. Home**

Lincoln opened the door slowly, which was something he rarely ever did. If this were a normal day he'd swing the door open, kick off his shoes and throw his backpack off in a random direction. But this was not a normal day. There probably wouldn't be a normal day for the rest of his- or his sister's lives.

The house was dark and quiet. Sunlight streaming through the broken windows- most likely from the blast- was the only thing providing illumination.

Outside they could still hear scenes of chaos and death. The only thing scarier than those sounds were the sounds of silence coming from every room in his house. This was the Loud house, it was never quiet.

Lincoln walked softly across the living room, wondering where his mom could be. He hoped she'd be waiting for them right by the front door. _Maybe she'd left to go find them? No. That mean she'd have to take Lily with her, and there was no way she was going to risk putting her in any danger in the outside world. And she couldn't leave her here either. That meant their mom still had to be here, but where?_

Lincoln looked back at Clyde and his sisters who had now all entered the house as well. He then looked at the staircase, and then to the door to his parent's room.

 _She's either upstairs in Lily's room, or in her own room._ Lincoln thought to himself.

He decided to go check his mom's room first since it was closest. He tiptoed over to the door and slowly turned the doorknob. The door creaked open and he steadily peaked inside. He scanned the room from right to left until his parent's bed came into view. There was a lump under the covers the size of his mom.

 _Was she asleep?_ Lincoln wondered. _How could she have slept through the blast, and the ensuing pandemonium. Like the sounds of kids screaming and the roar of the plane crash?_

 _Maybe she's just tired._ Lincoln told himself. _She's a busy lady, always working, always cleaning, always raising her kids. She deserves some rest. Plus, living in a house with eleven kids, you learn to sleep through anything._

Lincoln continued to open the door. His siblings crept up behind him and peered into the room until they all saw the lump on the bed as well.

"MOMMY" Lola screamed.

Lincoln turned at her to shush her and when he looked back at the bed, the shape had risen to an upright position. The blankets still covering its body.

Lincoln's siblings rushed past him. Leaving Lincoln and Clyde alone in the doorway. They surrounded the form on the bed, all speaking at once. Finally, Lola hopped on the bed and removed the covers over their mom's head.

She screamed.

Everyone else in the room screamed as well.

Tears began to fill their eyes.

Their mom was one of them.

She was infected.

"MOMMY!" Lola screamed again.

The infected adult that used to be their mom hissed, and raised an arm towards Lola.

The young girl was too scared to move. She just sat on the bed and continued to cry as all her sisters did as well.

"NO!" Lincoln screamed. His worst fear had finally been realized.

He rushed towards his mom.

"NO, NO, NO!" He continued. As he jumped onto the bed and dove right into his mom.

He forced her against the mattress. Surprisingly, he was able to hold her down.

"You can't be gone, you can't leave us. We need you!"

Lincoln's face was swelled with tears and sweat, as he looked into his mother's eyes he saw no sense of recognition, no sense of emotion, only the need to cause harm.

His mom suddenly found the strength to shove him off her. She continued to look at him for a moment and then turned back to Lola apparently deciding that she would be an easier target.

Tears continued streaming down her face.

Their mom tried to grab her, but instead, ended up knocking her off the bed. Her siblings tried their best to break her fall as their mom shuffled to move the covers out of her way, so she could get up off the bed.

Lincoln got back up and slammed into his mom again. Holding her against the bed's headboard.

He looked back at his terrified siblings and told them to run. But just as they had before, they refused.

Lincoln couldn't hold his mom back any longer and she shoved him again, harder than last time, which cause him to fall off the bed as well.

Their mom finally removed the covers off the rest of her body and stood up. She towered over all of them.

Lincolns sisters continued to wail. As their infected mom reached for them.

Lincoln stood up again, this time he was angry. He glared at what used to be his mom, so nice, and caring. Now taken over by a disease, He couldn't believe this was how it ended for her. She worked hard all her life taking care of 11 kids, always trying her best to suit their needs, always trying her best to love all of them and now she was gone, consumed by the same fate as every other adult in Royal Woods.

 _Why now?_ He thought to himself. _Why did it have to be today, a day when everyone still had their whole lives ahead of them, so much potential, wasted. It couldn't have been several million years in the future when humans would probably be long gone. Instead the human race was probably going to end today._

This thought made Lincoln even angrier, He laid all that blame on the thing that stood in front of him. The thing that represented everything that had gone wrong today, the thing that was part of the sinister plague that was responsible for so many deaths.

He harnessed that rage and projected the fact that this thing used to be his mom out of his head. He charged right straight for it and slammed into it with such force that the monsters head whiplashed before it started falling. Lincoln continued to push into it as they were both falling. He suddenly felt its body jerk, and then heard something hitting the composite wood of the nightstand next to his moms' bed.

Lincolns sister all cried out as soon as that sound filled the room.

Soon Lincoln and what used to be his mom lay on the floor. Lincoln continued to keep his arms wrapped around her until he realized that she was no longer moving.

"Lincoln!"

He heard Clyde call out to him.

Lincoln lifted his head up and looked at Clyde, and then to his sisters who just stood frozen with their mouths hanging open, tears still slowly crawling down their faces.

Lincoln's rage suddenly left his body and he looked at the creature suddenly remembering that even though it was a crazed adult, it was still his mom.

She was still lying frozen on the floor.

Then Lincoln noticed a red spot on the corner of her nightstand.

"No." Lincoln said, quietly this time.

He quickly got up and moved his mom so that she was laying on her back. That's when he finally saw what he was afraid he'd see. A huge gash on the right side of her head.

Lincoln threw himself away from his mom's body, and landed on his butt. He just sat in stunned silence.

 _What have I done?_

He turned towards his siblings who looked as though they were still trying to grasp what had just happened.

"You killed her." Lucy finally said.

 _No._ Lincoln thought, searching the deepest reaches of his brain for a response, but he couldn't come up with anything.

"Mommy!" Lola cried, again.

And then all of Lincolns sisters ran up to their moms body and began to cry.

Lincoln finally got up and walked over to his sisters. His eyes began to flood with tears as well, he held his arms out and his sisters welcomed him into the huddle with open arms. They knew he didn't mean to kill their mom, and that he was only trying to protect them. They all held each other and continued to cry over their loss.

Clyde stood awkwardly a few feet from them. Tears began stream down his face too, He had never seen his friend cry like this before, and it broke his heart.

As soon as Lincoln began to settle down he looked at his mom again. He wiped his tear stained eyes and that's when he noticed the baby monitor on the nightstand.

"Lily!" He said out loud and somehow his sisters all heard him over their sobs.

Worry quickly spread over their faces as it hit them at the same time.

Their youngest sister, the baby of the family, the most vulnerable of all the Louds.

Lincoln told his sister to wait in the living room and for Clyde to watch them as he raced out of their parent's room and upstairs. Lincolns sisters followed suit, completely ignoring their brother's orders and Clyde's calling out for them to wait.

Lincoln was up the stairs in record time. He burst down the hall and into Lily's room in a single breath. He peered over Lily's crib and there she lay, sleeping peacefully, clutching her purple blanket, and sucking her thumb.

Lincoln reached out and touched her. She slowly opened her eyes.

"Inkin." She said, cheerfully.

Lincoln smiled as relief spread over his entire body. He turned behind him and saw his younger sisters and Clyde all standing in the doorway. They all had worried expressions on their faces.

"She's okay." Lincoln told them.

The worry slowly disappeared from their faces, but they still had the look of dread in their eyes.

"She's okay." Lincoln repeated, "It's okay... it's okay… everything's okay."

"Lincoln?" Clyde said.

Lincoln suddenly felt a surge of nausea fill his body and the room began to sway back and forth. He quickly looked around the room and spotted a small plastic trash bin.

He hurried over to it and let loose everything he had eaten that day, and then some. The stress of having to protect his sisters, fend off feral adults, and then kill his mom had clearly taken its toll on Lincoln. He'd thrown up before, sometimes because he was sick, and sometimes because he'd eaten too much junk food, but he'd never thrown up out of fear. He dropped to his knees and spit out the last of the of the foul fluids that remained. He breathed heavily and wiped his nose.

As soon as he was done he looked over at his sisters and Clyde, who just stood and starred with concern.

"Lincoln?" Clyde repeated.

"I'm okay," Lincoln told him as he got up "it's just stress."

They all nodded, but they were still flustered.

Lincoln got up and walked back over to Lily's crib.

Lily looked worried too. Lincoln smiled at her which made the smile reappear on her face.

Lincoln looked over at his sisters again. He studied their appearances. Lisa had dirt stains on her clothes and blood stains on her shoes, probably from walking in the blood puddles from her classroom. Lucy had blood stains on her clothes from when she stabbed Mr. Grouse in the back of the head. Lana, had blood stains all over her clothes from beating her teacher and scoots with her wrench, as well as a red bruise on her cheek from when Mr. Grouse struck her. And Lola's face was stained with make-up that had run from her crying, and a wet stain near the bottom of the front her dress. No doubt Lola was probably more terrified than all of them. Lincoln then studied his own appearance. He had dirt, and blood stains all over him too, and a brown spot on his shoe from when he slipped on Charles' poop.

He looked back up at his sisters and smiled

"Let's get you all cleaned up." He said.

Lincoln and his sisters all sat quietly on the living room floor. They were all cleaned up now. The electricity may not have worked, but luckily the water still ran. Lincoln had helped wash his sisters and now they were all nice, clean, and comfy in different clothes. Lola had to wear a different outfit and shoes that were better suited to run in- just in case. After Lincoln was done helping clean up his sisters- and himself. He went down into his mom's room and wrapped her in her bed covers and closed the door. He never wanted to go in their again.

Clyde then told Lincoln that he had to go to his parent's house and see if they were alright. Lincoln tried to convince him not to go but he wouldn't let up.

That's when Lisa spoke up and told him that she's noticed that everyone who seemed to be affected by this disease were all adults. Clyde broke down, realizing that his dads were most likely dead.

It was quite a task to get Clyde to calm down since his inhaler was almost empty, luckily Lisa was able to come up with something to substitute it. Lincoln held Clyde as he sobbed over his parents and Lincoln's sisters also tried their best to comfort him.

Then Lincoln and his siblings had to accept the fact that their dad was probably dead as well, which brought a coat of fresh tears upon their faces.

After that, they boarded up the windows since there was no glass to keep out the outside world- not that the glass would help anyway. Luckily Lincoln still had plenty of wood laying around that he'd used to barricade himself in his room whenever April Fool's day came around.

He missed when that was the thing he was frightened of the most. His older sister Luan's pranks.

He hoped and prayed that his older sisters were okay. They decided not to board up the doors just in case his older sisters showed up. Instead, they moved the coach in front of the front door and the dining room table against the door in the kitchen. When they moved the couch, they found their dog Charles cowering underneath it, he was just as happy to see them as they were to see him. There was also their pet hamster: Geo, who resided safely in his cage along with their pet bird: Walt, who rested comfortably in his cage as well.

Lana also had her miscellaneous pets, but most importantly she had her pet frog Hops and her pet Lizard Izzy. As for their pet cat: Cliff, they had no idea where he was. They all hoped he was alive, and safe. Somewhere.

The house was the only protection they had against the outside world. Sure, there was Lisa's bomb shelter but unfortunately a car had crashed and flipped right on top of it so there was no way they were going to be able to get in there. Instead, all they could do was sit silently on the floor and wait for their older sisters to show up. Hopefully.

 **6\. Christopher Savinski**

Chris hid in the dressing room of the department store that he managed. A few moments ago, he was helping a lady find some shoes for her one-year old son- and the next, a loud bang filled the air and the glass windows at the front of the store all shattered, sending them all falling to the ground.

When Chris got up he noticed that every light in the store was off and that the mother was on her screaming son, biting into his face.

Chris stood, frozen. Wondering what the hell she was doing and what he should do. He was about to turn and cry out for help when suddenly a few adults that had been standing around them earlier shoved Chris out of the way and began to devour the kid as well.

"Don't- someone help!" He screamed as he looked around the store.

He was frightened to see that all the other adults in the store were busy fighting with parents of other kids over their children's flesh.

 _WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?_ Chris screamed inside his head before running to hide in the men's dressing room.

 _We're eating._ He thought he heard someone say, but he was too busy running to hide to wonder who answered him.

He slammed the door behind him and locked it. As he cowered in the small dark room waiting for the screams to stop Chris could swear he could hear voices.

 _Give me that._

 _He's my son, I get to eat him._

 _Sharing is caring._

 _Go find your own little bastard._

Chris reached into his pocket and pulled out his smartphone to call for help, but it wouldn't turn on.

"Fuck!" He said to himself.

He threw the phone down, covered his ears and continued to cower in the room for what seemed like hours, but it only had to be a few minutes.

Once the sounds, and voices finally seceded he unlocked the door and peeked out of his hiding spot. There was no one in the store. There were little scenes of chaos throughout the store, puddles of blood and corpses of dead kids polluted the ground. Chris figured now was his chance and he ran out of the store.

Outside was just as bad.

Everywhere he looked there were adults running in random directions. Some of them were chasing kids, and teenagers who were either out of school for the day or just truant. He ran to the back of the parking lot where his car was parked, bobbing and weaving through the network of parked cars.

A scared teenage girl ran right at him begging for help, but when Chris saw the huge crazed man behind her he pushed her away from him and continued to his car ignoring her pleas for mercy and then her cries of pain.

Chris was almost to his car when a fellow adult- who was crouching behind a car jumped out at him, causing him to fall on his butt.

"Please don't hurt me!" He cried, looking away with his arms in front of his face.

He waited for the adult to attack him, but it never did. He could hear the adults raspy breathing. It was still standing right in front of him, but it wasn't attacking.

 _Don't be a pussy._ Chris heard a voice inside of his head say.

He looked up to see the adult turn around and totter away from him.

Chris didn't know why it didn't attack him, but he wasn't going to wait around to find out.

He quickly got up and reached his car in a few steps. All the windows were blown out, but the door was still locked. he fumbled with his keys finally unlocking the driver side door to his early 80's Ford Bronco. Once inside he shoved the keys into the ignition and turned them.

It took a few tries, but the car suddenly rumbled to life.

Chris backed out and drove away so fast that the car left a clean trail of skid marks. As he drove, he passed several scenes of mayhem.

He couldn't drive a few seconds without seeing an adult tear into a kid, or without kids running up to his car for help. Chris wasn't about to stop for any of them, the only thing he cared about was getting himself to safety.

Chris slowed to a stop as he came up to a stoplight. He noticed all the lights were off. He looked around and noticed several buildings were completely dark on the inside and all the electric signs outside of the buildings were off as well. A revelation quickly entered Chris' mind.

 _That blast… could it have been an Electromagnetic Pulse blast._

He continued to look around at the world that was now devoid of electricity and started to chuckle, which quickly became a fit of maniacal laughter.

 _Looks like all those years of prepping for an event such as this are about to pay off._

He slammed down on the gas and drove off into the distance.

Chris thanked his lucky stars that he had his trusty Ford Bronco to drive him to safety. It wasn't anything fancy, which is why it was so important. it had nothing that and emp blast could damage.

He continued to drive like a maniac through the derelict streets of Michigan, passing many scenes of destruction. Cars and other vehicles had crashed into homes and buildings and adults were continuing to devour helpless kids. At one point he saw a few kids fighting back, they were able to take down a few adults at first with random weapons such as blunt objects and knives, only to be swamped by their sudden surge in numbers. It was like a real-life zombie movie. Where characters would get overwhelmed and devoured in a grisly fashion.

Chris loved horror movies, if it had gore, he was a fan of it. He never imagined he'd be part of one, one day.

The scenes that played out in front of him distracted him from the road a kid ran out in front of his vehicle, all bloody and bruised. Chris ended up driving right over him.

"Oh, shit!" Chris said out loud. And then drove faster when several adults began to run up to the kid's body.

Chris didn't fret over what he'd just done.

 _That kid was as good as dead anyways. And besides What's one more dead kid to my resume._ He chuckled to himself.

Chris was driving as fast as he could. He just wanted to get home so he could plan on what his next course of action would be, and maybe have a bite to eat.

As Chris drove an elementary school came into view. As it drew nearer he thought to himself.

 _All those kids must be scarred shitless- if any of them are still alive_

He then began to wonder how messy it must be in there as well when he noticed a brown-haired girl with a ponytail starring at the school while backing into the street.

"Watch out ponytail _."_ Chris muttered to himself. Not letting up on the gas at all.

The girl noticed him at the last second and quickly dove out of the way.

"Dumb, bitch." Chris spat, as he watched the girl shrink further, and further away in his rearview mirror.

About twenty minutes, and several dozen gruesome scenes later. Chris finally reached his house. It was a small three-bedroom residence with a basement. It wasn't anything too impressive but to Chris, it was enough.

He quickly leapt out of his car and rushed to his front door, unlocking it and entering the dark, lonely house.

Like every other part of the town the houses electricity didn't work. But seeing as though Chris was prepped for a major emp event he had a lot of his electronics stored in an electromagnetic pulse proof container in his basement, and one of those electronics was a small portable freezer that was packed with meat.

Chris's stomach rumbled as it was almost lunch time. He went down to the basement grabbed some meat and threw it on his wood burning stove.

Once the meal was cooked Chris dug into it like a feral beast. He and those things out there weren't so different, after all. Throughout his adult life kids around the area he lived in had been going missing, with the field of activity slowly spreading towards Royal Woods, he knew who was responsible: It was him.

Chris thought back to his time in the army, remembering how he ended up like this. Although he wasn't sure why those things out there were suddenly like that. One thing he did know is that they both enjoyed the taste of human children.


	2. Good news, bad news

**The Lost**

 **Chapter 2: Good News, Bad News**

 **1\. Denial**

Lincoln, his sisters, and Clyde, all continued to huddle together in the shady, dead house, as the sounds of turmoil outside slowly faded into nothing.

The sound of silence was ghastlier than the sounds of screaming; Screaming meant that the kids outside were still alive. Now, all Lincoln could hear was the sound of his sisters breathing, Clyde's sniveling, and his own heartbeat.

The fear he felt was worse than the kind he felt after watching that dumb harvester movie. However, the love, and need to protect his sisters was stronger than possibility of getting torn to pieces by zombies.

 _Zombies._ Lincoln thought, the word reminded him of the time everyone in his house got sick, and he and his healthy sisters (besides Leni) called them that.

They all thought that would be the closest thing to the zombie apocalypse they would experience. But all it was, was a stint of their overactive imaginations. There was no way that any of their knowledge of going through that could possibly help them now. After all, what was happening out there was far worse than anything, Lincoln, his sisters, or Clyde had ever gone through.

Lincoln looked down at his sisters who were all huddled around him together and holding and each other. He hoped more than anything that his older sisters were alive and unharmed. He needed someone to take charge. He may have prided himself on always being ready for anything, as well as coming up with plans for any situation, but this time he couldn't do it alone.

The sound of speedy footsteps began to appear. Increasing the closer they got to the door, and then the doorknob began to jiggle as the sound of frantic banging filled the whole house, putting an end to the silence.

"HEY!" A distressed voice yelled, "Open up!"

They all recognized the voice as soon as they heard it

"Lynn!" Everyone shouted, as they shot up from their sitting positions, and made a mad dash towards the door.

Lincoln and Clyde shoved the couch out of the way, while Lucy unlocked the door.

Lynn burst through the door as soon as she could fit through it, then she slammed and locked it.

She was breathing heavily and leaning against the door, with her eyes staring straight down at the floor.

She could see beads of sweat fall to the ground on her shoes, then she heard the pitter-patter of small feet making their way towards her, and then felt arms begin to wrap around her legs. She gasped and turned around in such a frantic manner that it caused her younger siblings to let go, and step away from her.

She looked down and saw the worried faces of Lana, and Lola staring up at her.

"Lynn!" She heard Lincoln call out to her.

The older Loud looked and saw his face filled with the same worry as the twins.

Lynn then panned her eyes across the entire room. Taking in every little detail. She saw Clyde standing right next to Lincoln, and the couch moved to a position so that it was no longer blocking the door, followed by Lucy and Lisa standing behind them, along with their dog, Charles. Then she noticed Lily sleeping in her baby carrier seat, she was beginning to stir at all the noise. She looked back down at the twins and tried to swallow. Her mouth was dry.

"Lynn!" Lincoln repeated.

She turned back to him and noticed that he was beginning to tear up.

"Are you okay?"

Lynn looked down at her outfit. Her usual sports jersey was stained with blood.

She looked back up and feigned a smile.

"Yeah…yeah, I'm fine." She noticed her younger siblings staring at her jersey as well. "Don't worry, this isn't my blood."

Her comments- while reassuring, still worried her siblings.

They all continued to stare at her.

She spread her arms out in a friendly manner.

"Bring it in." She encouraged.

They all- Clyde included, squeezed against her and held her tight. Even Charles tried to join in on the group hug.

"We were so worried." Lola, began to cry.

Lynn smiled at her siblings.

"Don't worry, it'll take more than a few crazies to take down Lynn Loud Jr."

They all stepped away, smiled and nodded.

Lynn then walked over to Lily, who was now beginning to open her eyes. While Lincoln and Clyde moved the couch back up against the door.

"Hey, there Lil." She said, gently stroking her cheek

The baby smiled and cooed.

A recollection began to form in Lynn's head.

Lily was here because she was sick, she guessed that that was a good thing since it meant that she got to stay home and not be out there in the screwed-up world, as well as their mom.

Like a swinging baseball bat, it hit her.

 _Mom!_

Lynn quickly pulled away from Lily and spun towards her siblings so fast that it startled them.

"Where's mom!" She demanded.

They all stood frozen in place, eyes widening as soon as she finished her question.

Lincoln fought hard to keep the tears down, as he searched wildly to find the right words. He felt all his siblings turning to him. It had to be him that told her. Being the second oldest sibling at that moment, he was basically second-in-command.

"Where is she?" Lynn repeated, the tone of her voice became more critical. Which caused Lily to whimper.

Sweat and tears slowly poured down Lincoln's face as he opened his mouth to speak, but before any sound could escape a quiet voice beat him to it.

"She's dead." Lucy said, grimly. She may have been the quietest of all the Loud children, but at that moment, it felt like she was the loudest person on earth.

Everyone looked at her and then back at Lynn, who took a step back as if she had been physically struck.

Her entire body suddenly began to become drenched in sweat. She looked at every one of her siblings. Lana, and Lola's eyes teared up, Lucy, and Lisa stood stone faced, and Lincoln took a step towards her.

"By the time we got here, she was already gone." Lincoln just left it at that. She didn't need to know what happened next.

Lynn's vision became blurry, as she shook her head in denial. She frantically wiped sweat from her forehead, and face, and then she tugged on the collar of her jersey as if it would let steam out.

They all became worried by her agitation. Then Lincoln spoke.

"Lynn, are you- "

"I need water." She blurted out.

"I'll go get you some." Lincoln said, beginning towards the kitchen.

But Lynn suddenly bolted past him and practically crashed into the fridge. She opened it and grabbed the first water bottle she saw, guzzling it down as fast as she could.

"Lynn, easy." Lincoln pleaded.

But she ignored him.

The water quickly filled up more than she could handle. She quickly slanted forward, and harshly coughed up water, and some bile.

She hurled the half empty plastic bottle down as hard as she could and swore.

"LYNN!" She heard Lincoln shout, as well as her sisters' gasps.

Lincoln stepped up to Lynn and wrapped his arms around her.

He held her as she continued to yell and swear, both sharing the same emotions while their siblings and Clyde stood, sobbing in the entranceway to the kitchen

Eventually, Lynn stopped cursing. Which prompted her younger sibling to stop crying.

"Are you, okay?" Lincoln asked, which he knew was a stupid question. Lynn just found out her mom was dead, there's no way she's okay.

Lynn just stood there and sniffed.

Her face was red, she was sad, angry, and embarrassed. She hardly ever showed weakness in front of her siblings.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"It's okay," Lincoln replied, "We're all scared."

Lynn pulled herself away from Lincoln.

"Who said I was scared." She exclaimed.

Lincoln was surprised by her sudden change in attitude. His younger sisters, and Clyde became perturbed by this as well

"Well-" He began. But Lynn interrupted

"I'm not scared. I'm agitated, I'm confused, I'm tired, and most of all I'm fucking pissed!"

Lincoln was now searching for more words. But again, he couldn't think of anything.

"When I woke up this morning I didn't think everyone would end up going crazy. When I said good-bye to mom as we left for school, I didn't think that, that would be the last time I'd see her alive, and our dad- oh, god he's probably dead too," Lynn rubbed more sweat from her face and continued to rant. "Until an hour- or so ago, I though the worst thing that would happen to me today was when I got smacked in the face with a fucking volleyball."

Lynn suddenly knelt and clenched her stomach, it hurt from drinking the cold water too fast, and throwing up.

"Lynn!" Lincoln knelt next to her and tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she smacked it away.

"Where is she?"

"What?"

"Where is my Mom?"

She quickly stood up, and lifted Lincoln along with her.

"She's in her room." He told her.

Lynn rushed past him and her younger sisters and burst through the door to their parent's room. And there lay their mom: Rita Loud, wrapped in her bed covers.

Lynn stood flustered in the doorway. She wanted to tear the covers away from her mom and take one last look at her, but she decided against it. She wanted the cheerful smiling image of her mom standing on the front porch, waving good-bye to her, and her siblings as they left for school this morning to be the thing she saw of her, not whatever was wrapped under those covers.

She exhaled, closed the door and went over and plopped down next to Lily, who was still lying in her baby carrier. She stared at Lynn with the same worried expression. Lynn couldn't bring herself to smile this time.

Lynn wondered how their mom had died. She kind of had an idea of what might've happened. But she didn't dare ask Lincoln or any of her sister about it.

Lincoln and her sisters, walked over to her and sat beside her.

After a few seconds, Lincoln finally spoke.

"I'm sorry." He said again.

"It's okay." Lynn assured him.

They continued to sit in silence until Lucy spoke up.

"What was it like out there?" She asked, even though she had already been out there, but now she wanted to hear it from Lynn's point of view. "How did you survive?"

Lynn closed her eyes to keep the tears from flowing, once she was sure they wouldn't show, she took a deep breath and began to explain how she had managed to survive out there.

 **2\. Field of Screams**

"I was in the middle of softball practice with my friends," Lynn began. "I was batting and already made two strike-outs. One of my friends jokingly told me not to get hit in the face. That Irritated me, I didn't want to strike-out again. Once the pitcher threw the ball, I swung as hard as I could, I don't know if I hit it because as soon as I swung the bat, there was a flash and the entire sky roared louder than the crowd of any sporting event I've ever been to ever could.

Lincoln, and everyone else shuddered. The sound of the blast was still fresh in their minds.

"I dove down and waited for my ears to stop ringing. Once they stopped, I got up and looked over to the dugout," Lynn paused, wiping sweat from her forehead, again. "and I saw my coach attacking one of my teammates. Everyone ran up to her and tried their best to drag her off the girl- I helped too, of course. And once we pulled her away, blood quickly gushed from her neck from where she'd been bitten."

Lincoln wanted to be shocked at how similar the story was to what happened in his classroom so far, but couldn't. There was no doubt that what happened at the beginning to him and his sisters, happened to every other schoolkid.

"Soon, one kid ran up to our coach and hit her as hard as she could on the head with a metal baseball bat. One hit was all it took. Then we all turned back to the injured girl at this point blood was flowing out of her so fast, and her face turned pale." Lynn paused again as she remembered seeing the girls' eyes fill with fear and tears. "Someone tried to pinch the wound together with a cloth, but it did nothing. So, all we could do was comfort her until she stopped moving. And then… we all ran away, we just left her body there."

Lynn's eyes began to tear up again and Lincoln and his siblings tried their best to comfort her until she continued.

"We all tried to run and find other adults, only to find them attacking kids, as well. So, I just ran from the school as fast as I could. I ran like I never ran before, I must have broken some of my own personal records," she joked, trying her best to smile. "And that's when I finally reached your school." She paused again, trying to think of what to say next. "And…and- "

"You went into the building?" Lana asked, shocked; before Lynn could finish.

"Yeah, of course," Lynn lied, "I had to go find my sisters," She smiled and patted Lana on the head, "But when I couldn't find you, I was so worried. I thought you were all…" Lynn didn't finish.

Instead, she closed her eyes and turned her head towards the floor.

"It's okay Lynn, Lincoln was able to save us." Lana told her.

Lynn's eyes popped open and she snapped her head back at Lana.

"Yeah," Lola agreed, "He's so brave, as soon as the grown-ups went nuts, he came and saved us."

"He helped me escape from my teacher." Lucy added.

"And he also tried to use himself as a distraction, when Mr. Grouse attacked us" Lisa, also interjected.

"He also helped some of our classmate when adults tried to attack them as well." Clyde inserted.

They all also thought of saying when Lincoln tackled their own mom to save them, but decided against it.

"Well," Lincoln began, "I didn't exactly come straight for you four. You see, I tried to escape the school at first, but once I realized you were all probably still in their me and Clyde went straight back in to find you all.

Lincolns sisters didn't mind, what mattered the most is that he risked his life for them by coming back.

Lynn sat, shocked at what she had just heard. Her eyes began to water, and her face quickly became drenched in sweat again. She stood up and paced away from them.

"Lynn?" Lincoln said.

She didn't respond.

thoughts swirled inside her head. Thoughts of her just standing and watching as her coach bit into her teammate. Thoughts of her standing in front of her younger sibling's school; Her legs wobbling as she stood frozen in front of it, the sounds of horrified screams filling the building.

She was terrified at the thought of one of those screams belonging to her younger siblings. She watched the building slowly inch away from her as she backed away from it.

Before she realized it, she was standing in the road. The sound of a car barreling towards her snapped her out of her stupor. She looked and saw an old looking car driving straight towards her, its driver looking completely insane. She quickly dove out of the way as the car whizzed by her, not slowing down at all.

 _Fuck, these things can drive cars?_ She thought at first, but as the car continued to fly down the road she decided that it was probably just some lunatic.

However, she noticed that the lunatic was an adult.

 _Does that mean not all adults are infected._ As far as she knew these newly crazed adults couldn't drive cars, besides that one.

She couldn't let her siblings know that she was too scared to go into the school and look for them. As much as it guilted her.

She couldn't let them know that Lincoln- her younger brother, was braver than she was.

"Lynn." Lincoln said again.

"Huh?" Lynn snapped back at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just… so glad you're all okay."

Her siblings all smiled at her.

Lynn faked another smile back at them. Inside her head she could still hear the screams of the kids as she ran away from the school, she tried her best to get the sounds out of her, but then she realized that the screams weren't coming from her head, they were coming from beyond the front door.

They all jerked their heads towards the door, instantly recognizing the scream, a scream that they had heard many times before, only it was usually accompanied by the screech of an electric guitar.

They all spoke in unison. "LUNA!"

 **3\. From bad to worse**

They all rushed towards the door and quickly unlocked it, and moved the couch enough so that their sister would be able to fit through it, as it opened they saw Luna, with Luan standing right next to her. The look of panic was clear on their faces.

They were all relieved to see two more of their sisters were alive and well.

"Get in!" Lincoln instructed them.

They didn't need to be told twice, Luna stepped aside and let Luan squeeze through the opening first.

As she stepped inside, Lincoln noticed that her hair was no longer up in a ponytail. In fact, it looked like it had gotten shorter.

Luna squeezed through the door next, both of their faces seemed even more flustered than Lynn's. Which probably had to do with the fact that the high school was further away than the middle school.

Lincoln wondered why his two oldest sisters: Lori and Leni, weren't with them.

 _Maybe they got separated, or something._ Lincoln told himself, before slamming the door, locking it, and barring the couch back up against it.

He then looked back at his two older sisters, who were being enveloped by their four younger sisters. They bombarded them with questions, and Lola and Lana each had their arms wrapped around their legs.

Luna and Luan's eyes darted back and forth towards each of their siblings. They both looked relieved to see them all alive. But for some reason, they also looked very uneasy.

"Give them some room to breathe." Lincoln told them.

His younger sisters all hushed and turned towards Lincoln, shooting him looks of dismay.

"Yeah," Lynn agreed with Lincoln, a she started towards the two exhausted looking sisters. "These two had to run quite the distance, they'll be able to give you all hugs in a little bit."

The younger siblings all stepped away to let Lynn stand closer to Luna and Luan.

She eyed them up and down.

"Are you two okay."

The two sisters exchanged glances, then turned back to Lynn and nodded.

"The adults," Luna began. "They all went totally bonkers."

"We know." Lynn told them.

They both looked around the room and noticed Lily looking up at them, they smiled. But then the look of fear suddenly tightened on their faces.

"Where's mom?" They both asked at once.

They looked their siblings in the eyes and noticed their looks of grief.

Lynn broke the news to them.

The two older sisters stood shocked at the news and then their faces contorted into looks of pure agony.

Luna began to tremble in her boots. She could feel her heart beat like a bass drum; the constant booming sound made it feel like her whole body was vibrating.

Luan knew it was a long shot, but she hoped that her siblings were just kidding. She hoped that it was just them getting her back for all the years she spent pranking them. But, she knew the looks on their faces were genuine.

They both looked at the door to their mom's room, imagining how she must've looked lying dead on the floor. Then, they collapsed to their knees and held each other as they sobbed.

The rest of the loud siblings surrounded the crying sisters and held them. It was something they'd done all day. They'd all cried more today than they ever had in in their entire lives.

Soon, they were able to console them into calming down.

Lincoln, and Lynn wanted to give them time to grieve, but at the same time they needed to know their stories. How they had managed to survive. And more importantly, where were Lori and Leni.

Luna wiped her eyes, smearing purple eye shadow in her head and hand, but she didn't care, she wasn't sure if she'd ever care about her appearance again. The only thing that mattered now was her family. She knew they were going to ask what happened, which meant she'd have to break the news to them, she knew it wouldn't be easy, just like it couldn't have been easy for Lynn to tell them about their mom.

Eventually she calmed down enough and those words that she dreaded more than anything were said.

"So, what happened, did you see Lori or Leni? Lynn asked.

Her siblings all had the same looks of anticipation on their faces.

Luna looked at Luan, whose eyes began to glisten with tears again. She looked back at her siblings, swallowed the lump in her throat and spoke.

"Please sit down," She told them, her voice was soft and tired.

"What, why?" Lynn asked, the shaking in her voice was obvious even though she only said two words.

"Please."

They all did as they were asked and huddled up to their older sisters.

It took Luna a while to speak, she searched strenuously for words to form what she was about to tell them. She tried to imagine that she was writing a song and that she just needed the right words to form the correct lyrics, she then tossed that thought out of her head, this wasn't a song, this was real life.

"Well?" Lynn said, impatiently. Her voice still shaky.

Luna looked all her siblings in the eyes one last time, taking in the desolate stares that they all possessed. It broke her heart knowing that those looks of bleakness were about to become looks of pure anguish. She decided there was no more time to waste, she would have to tell them what happened eventually.

"I'm sorry," She began, "but, Lori…and Leni… th-they… "

"Did you get separated?" Lynn interrupted. Now it sounded like she was trying to delay the inevitable.

"No, They- "

"Are still at the school?" Lincoln then said. The look of grave anticipation was evident on his face.

"They aren't- they didn't m-m-make- "

"Didn't make it home, we know!" Lynn said, the volume in her voice began to rise.

"No," Luna continued, tears began to descend upon her cheeks. "They're de- "

"Don't say it!" Lynn shouted, quickly standing up. Everyone looked up at her. "Don't you fucking say what I think you're about to say! Instead, tell me that you all got separated and they're still at the high school, so I can go rescue them!

"Lynn," Lincoln said, his eyes began to water up again.

"No," Lynn turned to him. "Our oldest sisters are in trouble we need to save them!"

"You can't save them." Luna, told Lynn.

"Why? Is it because the school is chock-full of those fucking crazy adults? I don't give a fuck how many of them there are, I'm going to save them, those fucking adults would be batshit insane to try and get in my way!"

"You can't save them because they're dead!" Luna yelled.

It felt as if a bomb had gone off inside everyone's chests as soon as Luna said that. The deafening silence that followed hung in the air like nuclear radiation.

They all turned and looked at Luna, who sat with her neck still strained out from yelling at Lynn. Luan, who sat with her arms wrapped around her legs that were pressed against her body, buried her face behind them.

"What?" Said Lynn, even though she heard them clearly.

"They're dead," Luna repeated, which hurt just as much as when she first said it, "-or they're not alive anymore."

"What do you mean not alive?" Lincoln asked, his eyes looking extremely lost.

"When we found them, they were… one of them."

Lynn began to wobble before planting her butt right back down on the carpet again, her face held the look of the infamous _thousand-yard stare._

Lincoln also sat in silence as his younger siblings began to cry, around him. Even Clyde was crying.

Lincoln's mind raced a million milers an hour as he remembered his two oldest siblings.

Lori. The eldest of the loud siblings, and probably the sibling he was closest with. Just like Lincoln, she was a person of action, always trying to control the situation. She was an authority figure, practically their third parent. She brought order to the Loud house when Lincoln couldn't.

Lincoln loved her, but sometimes she would get on his nerves. She could be quite pushy, condescending, irritable and somewhat obnoxious. She overused the word _Literally,_ and was always talking on her cellphone- mostly with her boyfriend, bobby. There was also the fact that she wouldn't let anyone go in her room without permission, which Lincoln could understand. However, she would get real angry if she caught one of her siblings in there, which only added to the stigma of her bad temper.

Lincoln thought about earlier in the morning when she blasted him for leaving the cap off the toothpaste bottle. He couldn't believe that would be the last thing they would ever argue about; The damn toothpaste cap. How cliché could you get?

But, as difficult as Lori could be she also had very nice qualities about her. She cared deeply about her siblings. She always looked after them, helped them out when their parents weren't around.

Lori was also kind of insecure, she thrived off the attention and respect that her siblings had to give her; be it because she was left in charge while their parents were away, or they needed her to drive them places since she was the only sibling with a driver's license. Which is why when her siblings all tried to teach Leni how to drive she became so worried that they'd stop going to her for favors, that she tried to sabotage Leni's chances of getting her driver's test by putting headphones on her that fed her incorrect information while she slept.

There was also the time she tried to move into the garage, but couldn't stay in there because she got scared and didn't want to be alone, Which Lincoln guessed was one reason she was always texting Bobby, she needed validation and reassurance; be it from her siblings, her boyfriend or her friends. Even so, Lincoln loved his eldest sister, and would do anything for her, just like she would do anything for him.

And Leni- oh god, Leni. Bless her kind soul.

She was always thinking of others, always doing her best even though she wasn't very bright. But that didn't mean she couldn't brighten up a room. She was super sweet and got along with everyone.

Her artistic abilities more than made up for her lack of intelligence. She was a skilled artist, fashion designer, and could tell Lincoln pretty much everything about clothes, designs, and great deals at the mall.

She also knew how to plan out events. Like the time they tried to plan throw a surprise party for their mom's birthday. They'd told Leni to go all the way to Hazeltucky to get something for their mom as a distraction because she was always spoiling everyone's surprise parties. Not on purpose of course, she just didn't know any better.

But when they all failed to throw a good party Leni came in with the clutch. She'd thrown their mom the best surprise party ever- and then she accidentally told her dad that his surprise party was next.

Lincoln couldn't believe that he was never going to be able to see them again, never going to talk to them nor hear their voices, never going to be able to hug them ever again.

Had he known that Lori dropping him off at school this morning would be the last time he'd see them, he would've looked at them when he hoped out of vanzilla and said a lot more than "See ya." He would've looked them in the eyes and told them that he loved them.

The tears began flowing down Lincolns face as he now had another reason to cry. He cried for his sisters, for his parents and for all the other members of his family that he was never going to see again.

Eventually his and his sisters crying subsided. Lincoln hoped that he'd never have another reason to cry ever again.

He turned to his two oldest sisters and asked them how they managed to survive out there? The high school wasn't exactly a stone's throw away from their house.

Luna and Luan turned to each other again, wondering if they could relive what had just happened. Before deciding that their siblings had to know what happened.

They turned back to their siblings and Luna began to recount the horror they had faced.

 **4\. High school of Horror**

Luna strummed away at her electric guitar as she sat in the room of her favorite subject at school: The music room. She was immersed in the familiarity of the magnificent symphony that all the instruments in the room produced.

 _What a perfect end to the school day._ She thought.

She was happy to be in a room that she loved, doing what she loved with people who shared the same interest.

She looked up from her instrument and snuck a peak at a cute blonde girl with a blue streak in her hair. Her name was Sam, and Luna wanted nothing more than to jam with her someday.

A few weeks ago, Luna had anonymously put a note in her locker saying that she had a crush on her. Luna was nervous about how she would react to this confession, but judging by the smile that spread across her face as she read the note, she was sure that Sam was delighted that someone liked her enough to write her a love note.

Luna then turned her attention towards the clock on the wall only a few more minutes until the bell would ring and she could go home and hang with her sisters and hopefully continue to spread her talent across the town of Royal Woods.

Meanwhile, Luan- who wasn't as lucky as Luna, sat bored in her social studies classroom. She fidgeted with her pencil, glancing at the clock every thirty seconds, those last ten minutes couldn't go by fast enough. Like everyone else in the school she looked forward to the weekend. She couldn't wait to perform at a kids' birthday party tomorrow. She loved making people laugh, it was what she was best at. Every laugh she brought onto the world only reassured her that she would go far in life. Someday she hoped to perform in front of an audience of thousands.

But that day would probably never come. Because a bright flash filled the sky and then a loud bang filled the air, knocking everyone off their seats.

The blast was loud enough that it reverberated through the entire school, resonating over the sounds of all the instruments. If that didn't cause the kids to stop playing then the lights going out certainly did.

The room was dark, everyone began talking at once.

The teacher tried his best to quiet everyone down when the sounds of screams drowned out the sounds of the kid's confusion.

The teacher told everyone to stay put as he ran out into the halls.

After a few minutes past, Luna's eyes began to adjust to the darkness. She looked at every other kid in the room, they all looked just as confused as she was. A lot of them were talking about the loud bang that came from beyond the walls, some others talked about the screams they heard coming from the hallway, and a lot of them were talking about how their cellphones weren't turning on.

Suddenly the door swung open. The sunlight from the windows in the hallway briefly poured into the room. They saw the silhouette of their music teacher, standing in the doorway. The kid standing closest to him asked him what was happening. The teacher didn't say anything and instead snapped his head towards the kid and lunged at him, the door closed sending the room back into darkness. Then the sound of a kid screaming permeated the air.

Luna stood up, and she could sense everyone else standing up as well. A kid that sat next to the source of the scream took out a lighter and flicked it. The small flame filled the space around him and everyone saw the teacher holding the screaming kid to the ground and biting into him.

"What the fuck?" The kid with the lighter shouted.

He kicked the teacher in ribs only for him to ignore his blows and continue to dig into the kid.

Several kids began to scream, while some of them charged towards the teacher, others made their way to the door.

Luna was torn on what to do. Should she help this kid or make a run for the door.

Before she could decide. A big kid went up behind the teacher and slammed a tuba on the teachers back repeatedly. It wasn't affecting him at all.

"Try the head." A kid yelled.

The kid did as he was told, and it worked. Blood began to ooze from a wound in the teacher's head.

The big kid, realizing what he had just done, dropped the tuba and stood shocked, as the kids pulled the teacher off the kid, it was too late for him.

That was enough incentive for Luna to run for the door.

She shot one last looked at the room as she opened the door. Sam and her friend were gone, and some older students mostly, juniors and seniors, began to cough hysterically. Luna wondered what was wrong with them before deciding that it was probably just nerves as she ran out the door.

Luna didn't know what to do. Everywhere she looked adults, and older students were attacking younger teens, mostly consisting of freshman and sophomores.

 _I've got to find my sisters._ Luna told herself as she continued down the hall.

She then noticed a group of kids wielding random weapons, such as baseball bats, pencils, and other sharp tools making their way towards the freshman part of the school. Luna decided to stay close to them since she was also heading in the same direction.

Tears filled Luan's eyes as she ran as fast as she could down the halls. The surge of crazy adults chased her and her classmates, she could feel them getting closer, their outstretched hands were grazing her ponytail. She didn't want to suffer the same fate as her poor classmate who just happened to be closest to the teacher when he got back up and went bonkers on the poor boy.

Luan could only scream and cry as the kids in front of her outran her. As the hands of the adults continued to brush up against her she imagined them digging into her with those same hands. That thought terrified her.

She couldn't believe she was about to die a horrible death when only ten minutes ago she was looking forward to going to a six-year old's birthday party.

Suddenly a group of kids came rounding a corner, a lot of them were carrying random weapons.

They all stopped in their tracks when they noticed a group of adults barreling towards them.

Luan screamed and waved her arms frantically. Until she noticed that one of those kids was Luna.

She screamed her name and Luna's face filled with terror as she saw that her younger sister was just moments away from being torn to pieces.

Luna threw caution to the wind and ran towards her sister. This prompted the other kids to do the same.

Luna ran past Luan and slammed into the nearest adult. The both fell to the ground and Luna struggled to hold the grown up down. A lot of adults halted and reached for Luna.

Luan turned back and screamed her sisters name again. Luna looked around and noticed the hands all reaching for her now.

She screamed.

But then all the other kids reached the group of adults and began to deliver devastating blows to their heads. The blood that bloomed from their heads sprayed Luna, who continued to pin the adult to the ground with all her might. Then a kid stepped up to her and slammed a baseball bat down on the adult's head, ending its blind rage in one ferocious blow.

He put out a hand towards Luna, offering to help her up. Luna accepted.

"That sure was brave of you, charging these things without a weapon." The boy said. He had a buzzcut and wore a shirt with the word _Army_ printed on it.

Luna recognized the kid as _Brock Howard._ A strong, brawny kid who grew up in a military family.

"Thanks." She said, blushing.

"Luna." A voice cried out.

Luna snapped out of her infatuation a looked to see Luan running towards her. They wrapped their arms around each other as soon as they converged.

"Are you okay." Luna asked, "What happened?"

Luan told her as fast as she could about how the teacher went nuts and attacked a student.

Luna embraced Luan again and looked back at Brock and thanked him again.

"No problem." He said, "Do you girls want to follow us?"

"No thanks, I have to go find my other sisters, hopefully they're okay."

A look of pessimism spread over Brock's face.

"Are you sure?" He asked. "I've kind of noticed a pattern with all these deranged people."

Luna quickly shut him down before he could finish.

"I have to find them, I couldn't ever forgive myself if I didn't at least try."

Brock nodded.

"Okay then take one of these."

He handed Luna a spare baseball bat.

She thanked him.

Then Brock and his friends continued down the hall.

Luna turned back to Luan and told her that they had to find Lori and Leni.

Fear spread over Luan's face, as much as she wanted to leave this place as soon as possible she knew they had to go find their older sisters, after all, Lori had the keys to Vanzilla.

They made their way towards the junior section of the school.

Luna gripped the bat tight as they ran past several screaming teens. The sounds of death grew louder as they neared the halls where their older sister Leni would most likely be. Luna kept shooting quick glances to make sure Luan stayed close to her. every time she looked Luan wore the same dismal expression. Hopefully finding their older two sisters would change that. They finally reached a pair of double doors that signified they were around the 11th grade rooms.

Luna knew that Leni had algebra for her last period, so she ran straight for that certain room.

The room soon came into view, Luna slowed down and took another look at Luan who returned the glance.

They walked slowly towards the room. The door was open and there was a strange spongy sound emerging from it. They poked their heads through the doorway and saw Leni and a few other kids kneeling around something. They looked to be eating.

The two sisters stood in the doorway waiting for something to happen.

They studied their sister. Her hair was a mess, her sunglasses were no longer resting on her head. Her dress had red stains all over it, and she was no longer wearing her sandals.

They both wanted to scream their sisters name and for her to turn around and look at them with her beautiful face and kind eyes. But all they could do was watch as she continued to stuff her face with an unknown substance.

Once Luna couldn't take it anymore. She said Leni's name, and their sister, and all the other teens turned and faced them.

Luna and Luan's hearts both seemed to stop as they stared at their sister's blood-soaked face. It felt as if time stood still. Luna felt her grip loosening on the bat. Luan stood completely still, the only things moving were the tear drops sliding down her face.

Leni and the other teens stood up and shrieked at the two newcomers. Luan covered her ears, closed her eyes and began to cry.

Luna screamed as the teens charged her and Luan. She then shoved Luan away, slammed the door shut, and pressed her body against the it.

Leni and the other teens slammed against the door and tried their damnedest to break through it.

Luna struggled to keep the door shut. Luan ran up to the door and pressed her body against it too.

"Get ready to run!" Luna told Luan.

Luan nodded her head when suddenly an arm burst through the little window on the door and grabbed Luan's ponytail.

Luan screamed louder than Luna had ever heard her scream before.

Luna took the baseball bat and slammed the tip of it through the little window. She felt the impact of it hitting the teen in the face, but he wouldn't let go.

Luna dropped the bat and began to pull on Luan's hair as hard as she could. Tears streamed down Luan's face as she began to wail in pain. Luna hated that she had to do this, but it was the only way to free her sister from this monster's grasp.

Finally, she managed to tug Luan away and the crazy teen tore a lock of her hair away.

Luan crouched to the ground and continued to cry in pain as she reached around and caressed her hair.

Now, Luna was mad she picked up her bat and let the door swing open. The first teen emerged, Luna swung as hard as she could, and the sound of the bat connecting to his skull sent shivers up her spine. Another teen soon took his place and was met with the same fate. Next, came Leni. Luna felt a lump form in her throat, she couldn't bring herself to take swing at Leni, instead she shoved her to the ground as the last teen appeared, still holding the lock of Luan's hair. Luna swung extra hard at this one. The force of the hit caused one of its eyeball to pop out of its socket. As soon as its body hit the ground Luna turned and looked at Leni who was now back on her feet and rushing Luna.

Luna dropped the bat again and grabbed Leni as soon as she reached her. She shoved her back into the classroom and shut the door. It wasn't as hard to keep the door closed as it was before, since Leni wasn't that strong, however her desire to consume human flesh seemed to increase her strength.

Luna continued to lean her body against the door as she turned to Luan and asked her if she was okay.

"No, I'm not okay!" She cried.

A chunk of hair was noticeably missing.

Luan then removed the bun from her hair and let it hang down.

"We need to find Lori!" Luna urged.

Luan continued to crouch on the ground and began to shake her head.

"How do we know she isn't already dead."

"We have to try!" Luna barked.

 _First, we must take care of Leni._ She thought.

And with that she picked up the bat and let the door open again. Leni quickly emerged again and lunged towards Luna. She couldn't bring herself to kill her sister and instead, swung the bat at Leni's leg. The snapping sound that followed broke Luna's heart as their older sister came crashing to the ground. Luna then brought Luan to her feet and they ran as Leni fruitlessly crawled after them, her raspy wails of hunger devastated the two sisters.

They soon reached the Senior part of the school. They were both ready for the impending heartbreak should they discover that Lori suffered the same fate as Leni.

They listened closely as the sound of the rage-filled creatures echoed through the halls. All around them the floors were stained with blood and the smell that filled the air was horrible. Suddenly the sound of someone screaming caused them to stop dead in their tracks. A kid came limping around a corner as fast as he could. Suddenly a pack of teens emerged as well and swamped him.

Tears came back to the sister's eyes as they noticed that one of the teens had thick blonde hair, and wore a blue tank top and brown cargo shorts.

Luna and Luan were powerless to help the poor teen. Instead they both turned and ran into an empty room. They jammed some desks against the door to barricade it.

Now, they really let the tears flow.

"Did you see her?" Luna asked, through her sobs.

And Luan confirmed it with a nod of her head.

They both backed away from the door, plopped down and held each other as they cried.

They cried because one of the teens that beset the kid was none other than their eldest sister: Lori Loud.

 **5\. The Others**

Luna and Luan looked out the window to the room they hid in. The glass on it was shattered as well.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Luna said.

Luan didn't need to be told twice. They hopped out the window and ran into the chaos of the new world.

They had discussed that they would have to run to their younger sibling's schools and see if they were all still there.

As they ran they took one last look at their school. The thoughts of their sisters devouring other kids would haunt them until the day they died. Hopefully today wouldn't be that day.

They quickly found and ran with a large group of kids who were fleeing in the same direction they were. Eventually they spotted the middle school. Before they ran in a tough looking girl wearing a helmet ran out. Luna and Luan recognized the girl as Lynn's friend: Polly Pain.

They asked her if she had seen Lynn and she told them that she ran _that way._ She pointed in a direction that made it obvious to the sisters that Lynn was running towards their youngest sibling's school.

They thanked her and went on their way, Relieved that they wouldn't have to enter the nightmare that was the middle school. They stuck with a group of kids who all worked together to fend off attacking adults.

Soon they reached the elementary school. Luna and Luan braced themselves as they ran into the school. They searched every one of their sister's classrooms. They were nowhere to be found. Every puddle of blood made them fret. They imagined fully grown adults chomping down on them and ripping their guts out. Soon they ran into another small group of tough looking teens.

Luna and Luan recognized them.

They all greeted each other.

"Have you seen any of our siblings?" Luna asked them.

She didn't need to name them since everyone in Royal Woods knew who the Loud family was.

"No, we haven't, sorry" said a dark-haired boy who Luna and Luan knew as: Stan Parker. "Have you seen my sister?"

Luna and Luan shook their heads and apologized as well.

Before Stan could say anything else one of his friends told him to hurry up.

They all looked at the kids that stood beside them. One of them was named Duke Melville, he was kind of a jerk sometimes and the kid that stood next to him was named Joey Moore. Everyone thought of him as Duke's sidekick.

"Okay," Stan said.

He took one last look at the sister and they all wished each other luck as Stan continued down the halls.

Luan turned to Luna.

"Now what?" She asked.

"We just have to go home and hope that they're there."

Luan swallowed and nodded, and the sister ran out of the school and continued home.

The sounds of their heavy breathing and quick footsteps were the only sounds that accompanied them as they passed many scenes of chaos, Dead kids and adults polluted the streets. Luckily they didn't come across any crazy teenagers or adults. Then they noticed black smoke flooding towards the sky. They passed a crashed, burning airplane. The sisters couldn't imagine how terrible it must've been to witness such a scene.

Soon they reached their house and noticed their neighbor: Mr. Grouse sprawled face down on the ground, they also noticed the screwdriver that was driven into the back of his head

 _That screwdriver either belongs to Lucy or Lana,_ they thought.

Then they reached the door and it was locked, they began to pound on it and scream, hoping that their mom and siblings would be waiting in the house to open the door and greet them. They were half right.

 **6\. A Transitory Haven**

The Loud house remained silent for a few minutes after the story was finished. The thought of their sisters committing cannibalism was too much to bear. Lincoln couldn't even imagine how hard it must've been for his sisters to witness Leni's face trickle with blood and Lori chomp down on that poor kid.

"Why didn't you put them down?" Lynn finally asked.

Luna and Luan looked at her.

"What?" Luna asked with a hint of vexation in her voice.

"You heard me," Lynn said, as she stood up. "why didn't you end their suffering?"

Luna stood up too.

"You expect me to kill my own sisters?"

"Maybe you would've been doing them a favor, every second of their existence could be pure agony, they could be trapped inside their minds, screaming for mercy, begging for someone to put them out of their misery."

"We don't know that." Luan interceded.

"Yeah," Luna agreed, "For all we know they could be content in their bodies, each and everyone of them could be in their own little happy place, enjoying their life."

Lynn stepped up to Luna and stared into her eyes.

"Do those things out there look content to you." She growled in a cold desolate voice.

Tear began well up in Luna's eyes, causing Lynn to back away.

Luna wished more than anything that she could get the image of Lori and Leni's dead angry scowls out of her mind. But there was no forgetting the looks of reckless abandon in their eyes as they devoured their prey without the slightest hint of remorse.

"You're right," Luna said. "I thought I was doing the right thing by sparing Leni- there may not have been anyway for us to get to Lori, but I had my chance to put Leni down- and I blew it, now she's probably going to be forced to crawl around until someone takes the initiative to put her down or until the sun stops shining."

Her younger siblings began to silently weep at the thought of this.

Luna hated the thought of that as well, she also hated the phrase _put down_ , it felt like she was calling her sister a wild animal. And she wasn't- at least, not the Leni she knew.

Lynn looked down at Luan, who was back to hiding her face. It must've really hurt when that dude ripped a chunk from her hair. Then she thought about her own ponytail. She figured there was only one thing to do.

She walked upstairs and into the bathroom, and looked at herself in the mirror on the bathroom wall. As much as she loved sporting her ponytail she knew that she couldn't risk an adult grabbing it. She'd hate for it to be her downfall.

She opened the mirror cabinet and took out a pair of scissors. Then she closed the mirror, took one last look at her dark, brown hair and watched as she held her ponytail up and pressed the scissors together.

 _Snip._

She held her lock of hair up into the sunlight and studied it. It reminded her of all the sports she ever played, she thought back to all the good memories, all the competitions all the goals she had set for herself and all the records she had broken, and how her parents and siblings were always there to cheer her on, every step of the way. And now, her parents would never be able to cheer for her ever again.

She threw the lock of hair into the waste basket and then turned to look at herself in the mirror, the back of her hair was less than shoulder length, she then evened out her hair with a few more trims and now her hair was just as short as Lisa's. She looked at the scissors again and then slammed them as hard as she could against the mirror and yelled.

"FUCK!"

The sound of footsteps running up the stair filled the house.

"Lynn!" Luna yelled. "What happened?"

All her siblings stood in front of the bathroom. Gawking at her short hair.

"I… decided to give myself a haircut." Lynn answered pointing at her head.

"Why did you- "

"So, I wouldn't end up like her." She pointed at Luan, who winced as Lynn stuck a finger towards her.

"Okay," said Luna, as she held her hand out in front of her taking a few steps towards her.

"What?" Lynn demanded she looked at her hand that was still clenching the scissors, it was bleeding. "Oh," She laughed suddenly remembering the shattered mirror, "Yeah, I only did that because I was pissed."

"It's okay," Luna told her, "I'm scared too."

Lynn's face contorted into a look of rage.

"Who the fuck said I was scared?" Sweat began to dribble down Lynn's face again. "I'm the bravest fucking person in this fucking house."

Lynn looked at all her younger siblings and noticed the look of fear on their faces. Then she looked down and noticed the blood began pouring from her hand at an alarming rate. She dropped the scissors and swore.

Luna reached her sister and held up her arm to get a better look at her hand.

"Lincoln go get the first aid kit." She demanded.

He ran downstairs.

"I'm not scared." Lynn repeated as her mind began to wonder.

She saw herself standing in front of the elementary school. _I'm not scared._ She told herself as she imagined herself running into the building and taking out as many adults as she could, while all the kids cheered her on and chanted her name.

 _Lynn! Lynn! Lynn!_

"Lynn!" Luna's voice woke her from her daydream.

She looked and saw Lincoln arrive with the first aid kit.

"Lisa can you give me a hand." Luna asked.

Their younger sister walked up and studied the injury.

"That's going to need some stitches." She remarked.

 _One week later…_

The kids all sat in the attic, all of them bored out of their minds, they had played every board game, let Lucy give a eulogy to their mom, and explored every inch of the attic, they were running out of food, diapers for Lily, and patience.

After things calmed down with Lynn. Luna decided it was best if all the other siblings shortened their hair as well. Everyone, but Lola agreed. It took some convincing to get her to allow them to cut her _luxurious hair,_ as she called it.

Some had also changed into more appropriate attire. Luna and Luan no longer wore their skirts instead they- along with their other siblings wore pants that would be easier to run in. They also changed into shoes that would be easier to run in as well.

"I can't wait up here any longer." Lynn groaned.

"Would you rather take your chances out there?" Luna asked.

"Yes." Lynn answered.

Luna sighed.

"Where would we even go?" She asked.

"Anywhere, but here."

Luna wondered if there was anyone else left alive in the town of Royal Woods. It had been a few days since they last saw a living person run by their house.

Luna looked at Lisa and asked her what she thought they should do.

She told them that it was usually better to stay put in a regular situation, but this wasn't a regular situation.

They all voted on whether they should stay or go, and majority ruled with the latter.

"Alrighty then," Luna said, "go pack some clothes and whatever you can't live without, and we'll leave in a few hours."

 **7\. Departure**

The loud family searched their rooms for their most treasured items. Lincoln knew exactly what he was taking with him, he grabbed his stuffed animal: Bun-Bun, once he was all packed he headed downstairs and took the framed picture of their family portrait off the shelf of the fireplace, removed it, folded it up and gingerly placed in his pocket. It would be the only thing he would bring that he and his siblings would remember Lori and Leni by.

Luna really wanted to take her favorite guitar with her, but she knew it was to big to carry around. She hated that she had to leave it behind. Hopefully wherever they ended up had some musical instruments she could use to keep herself, and others, entertained.

Luan wondered on whether she should take her ventriloquist dummy: Mr. Coconuts with her, but she decided not to, what use could he be. She closed his eyes and put him back in his case. Hopefully someday she could come back for him. But for now, the only thing she could bring that was special to her was her own mind, where all her jokes were stored. She was about to put Mr. Coconuts' case under her bed when she thought of a better idea.

Lynn grabbed her favorite baseball bat and her lucky jockstrap. She swung the bat slowly a few times, trying to imagine herself swinging at adults.

Lucy chose to bring her poetry journal with her, and few screwdrivers. She waited for Lynn to leave the room and then turned to her bust of Edwin and kissed it good-bye. She hated having to depart without it, but she couldn't be expected to carry it around with her. That's when she noticed Luan standing in the doorway.

"You didn't see me kiss Edwin, did you?" She asked, embarrassed

"Unfortunately," Luan answered.

Lucy sighed and felt herself blush luckily for her it didn't show.

Luan then held up her dummy.

"Is it okay if I leave Mr. Coconuts with Edwin?"

"Sure." Lucy answered.

Luan smiled and rested the dummy on Lucy's bed.

"Hey, handsome." She made the dummy say.

Lucy exhaled out of her nose.

"Thanks for leaving me with the vampire if I was left in that case I would've gotten so _board._ Get it?" He asked.

Lucy nodded.

Luan made Mr. Coconuts face Edwin.

"I sure hope my jokes aren't a _bust."_

A slight smile formed on Lucy's face.

"Goodbye, Mr. Coconuts." Luan said.

"Take care of Edwin for me." Lucy told the dummy.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure nothing _sucky_ happens to him.

And with that Luan and Lucy left the room, and closed the door behind them.

Lana decided to bring her wrench and toolbelt with her, along with her pet frog Hops, and lizard, Izzy. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be able to bring all her other pets with her, so she had to let them go.

Lola decided to bring her favorite tiara and some of her make-up and other beauty supplies. Despite the apocalyptic world outside, she still wanted to look beautiful.

Lisa gathered up as much as her science equipment as she could and some notebooks, she hoped that wherever they ended up she would be able to study one of these adults and come up with a cure.

Lily was waiting in her crib it was decided that they would bring her purple blanket, and her stuffed giraffe.

Clyde shuffled around Lori and Leni's room. He rummaged through Lori's things. He felt kind of bad, like he was invading her privacy, but at the same time she was one of those things, she wouldn't care what Clyde did at this point. He then looked inside her closet and his heart sank when he saw all the gifts he'd ever given to Lori.

 _She kept all of them._ He thought to himself as tears began to fill his eyes.

He removed his glasses and wiped his eyes. He knew Lori cared about him, he just didn't know she cared this much.

As much as he wanted to take all her clothes and makeup, he decided to just take a small framed picture of her, he had many pictures of her, but they were all at his house, so this one would have to do. He removed it from the frame, folded it up, and placed it in his pocket.

Clyde took one last look as he left the room.

 _I love you, Lori Loud._ He wiped another tear away, realizing that he'd never hear her say it back.

Once they were all packed, they gathered in the living room. Lynn distributed her spare baseball bats to Luna, Luan, Lincoln, and Clyde

Luna looked outside, there wasn't a single person in sight.

She turned to Lisa, her smartest sister. The one who told them all that the meteor that most likely caused all of this also seemed to act as and an electromagnetic pulse. Thus, rendering all electronics inoperable.

"Do you think any cars might still be able to work?"

"Only one's made during, or before the early 1980's." Lisa answered.

Luna nodded.

"Mr. Grouses car is pretty old; do you think it'll work."

"Hopefully."

"Alright, everyone ready?"

They all looked at each other and then back at Luna and nodded.

"Okay then, let's go!"

Luna reached for the doorknob and not before taking one last look at the living room, and the door to their parent's room.

 _Goodbye mom._

She slowly opened the front door and peeked outside, still no adults.

The only adult in sight was Mr. Grouse's dead body.

They all ran, quietly over to his house, luckily the front door was unlocked so they didn't have to risk cutting themselves on the glass trying to squeeze through his window. They found his keys hanging on a rack beside the door to his garage. They opened the door to his garage and could faintly see his car parked in the darkness.

"Yeah, that's definitely pre-1980's." Lynn remarked.

They all had to lift the garage door up, manually. Once the afternoon sunlight filled the garage they all packed into the car. It was no where as big as Vanzilla so the younger siblings had to sit on the older siblings laps, while Luan sat in the passenger seat and Luna sat in the drivers seat. Seeing as she was the oldest, she would have to drive it.

She placed the key into the ignition, the car rumbled loudly every time she turned the key. She was worried that the sound would attract adults. Luckily by the fifth try the car boomed to life.

Luna smiled as the sound reverberated through the garage.

She shifted the car into reverse and began to back out. The car was loud, and she prayed that they weren't announcing their presence to every adult within a five-mile radius.

"This sound always _drives_ me crazy." Luan giggled.

All her other siblings laughed as well. Her jokes were a welcome addition into this new world, they needed whatever distractions they could use to keep them from thinking about all the pain and misery they had witnessed.

As they drove away Luna looked in the rear-view mirror and watched the house shrink away, all her siblings looked back to see the house shrink away as well.

 _The Loud house._

The place where they spent their entire lives, the place that held so many memories good, bad, funny, and sad. They thought of their mom lying dead on her bedroom floor, and all the things they'd left behind. Hopefully someday they would be able to return to their home, their place of happiness, _someday._

 _Goodbye house._

 **8\. Christopher Savinski II**

Chris sat alone, staring at his blank television screen. He was running low on meat. He was pissed that this had to happen when he planned to prey on more kids later that night. He then heard footsteps walking right by his house, accompanied by the sounds of something dragging. He went over and looked out his window. There, on the sidewalk he saw an adult dragging the body of a dead fat kid.

 _So juicy,_ Chris thought, _I wish I could feast on that kid._

The adult suddenly stopped and turned towards his house.

 _Huh?_ Chris wondered why the adult stopped walking and stared right at him.

The adult began walking towards him.

 _Oh, no._ Chris slowly started to back away from his window, as the adult came closer.

Then the adult began to knock on his front door.

Chris stood still as the adult stood on the opposite side of the door.

 _I know you're in there._ Chris heard the voice in his mind.

 _WHAT THE FUCK!_ Chris screamed in his mind, _Am I going crazy?_ He wondered.

 _No, you're not,_ the voice in his head answered.

 _What do you want?_ Chris thought.

 _I just wanted to share, this big juicy kid with you._

Chris thought back to when he was at his job and all the adults were fighting over the kids, sharing was the last thing they wanted to do.

 _Why me?_

 _I can sense your vibes,_ the adult answered, _you're giving off more energy than any adult I've encountered. You're a natural born leader and I would be honored to give you this kid as an offering._

Chris wondered if this adult was pulling his leg.

 _How do I know you won't attack me as soon as I open the door?_

The adult pondered on how he would be able to get Chris to trust him.

 _As a show of good faith, I'll leave this kids body here and walk away from the door._

Chris heard the adult set the dead kid down and take several steps back. He then looked out his window and saw the adult standing all the way on the sidewalk. When the adult noticed him looking he smiled and waved. His face looked sick and pale and the smile only added to his creepiness factor.

Chris quickly went over to his door, opened it, dragged the body in, and then slammed and locked the door, all in less than five seconds.

 _I'll be out here when you're done feasting on him._ The adult voice continued in his mind. _We have much to discuss._

Chris wondered what there could be to talk about and then looked down at the fresh meat.

 _This should be interesting._

* * *

 _Thanks for reading this chapter. As I'm sure you've noticed I decided to put Luan in high school even though she is most likely in middle school, as shown in "L is for Love", however, in "Mall of Duty" she was attending an open house meeting with Lori, Leni, and Luna, which means she could also be in high school. I don't know? Anyway, I decided to put her in high school to make it easier for Lynn to lie to her siblings about her going into their school to look for them. She's just putting on a brave act, no doubt she's just as scared as everyone else. The question is: will she be brave enough to tell the truth and admit that she really is scared.  
_

 _Stay tuned for the next- and final chapter of phase 1, where there will be more characters that are introduced._


	3. A New Home

**The Lost**

 **Chapter 3: A New Home**

 **1\. Asylum Seeking**

The old car sputtered through the streets of Royal Woods, Michigan. Every little sound made the Loud family jump. The last thing they needed was for the car to break down and leave them stranded on the road, where they'd be at the mercy of whatever adult lingered within earshot.

Inside the car the only sounds that persisted were the sounds of the family's heartbeats, breathing, and Lily's cooing. She was being held by Lucy, who sat in Lincolns lap. While Lana and Lola sat on Lynn's lap with Lola held Walt the bird, and Geo the hamster, while Lana held her pet frog Hops and Izzy, her Lizard. Lisa sat on Clyde's laps holding Charles.

They soon passed the crashed airplane. Light gray smoke still slowly rose from the cracks and gaps in the steel. While burnt bodies lay sprawled out only a few yards away. Lincoln, his younger sisters, and Clyde all huddled together at the sight of this.

Lincoln had told his sisters about how he, his sisters, and friend had all witnessed it crash. Which shocked his older sisters, they couldn't even imagine how terrifying that sight must've been, and they couldn't believe they didn't hear the plane crashing to the ground. They guessed it was because they were probably too far away. Still, his sisters marveled at how brave Lincoln and Clyde had been to move on and protect the younger Louds after witnessing all kinds of hellish sights.

As they passed the plane Lincoln could swear he could see something poking out from a gap in the steel. He quickly set it out of his mind as they got further away from the wreckage. He told himself that it was just his overactive imagination.

Soon, they could see the elementary school in the distance.

Images of Lincolns dead classmates raced through his mind. He remembered the fear and hopelessness he felt as adults tore into poor, helpless kids. He wondered if anyone could still be alive in there. His question was immediately answered.

"Look!" Luan shouted, pointing towards the roof of the school.

Everyone looked and saw what appeared to be a figure standing on top of the school.

"Is that a kid or an adult?" Lynn asked.

"It looks to short to be an adult," Luna answered.

As they drove closer to the school they could tell that the figure noticed them as well. They watched it turn and run out of sight.

The closer they got to the school the more details they noticed. All the windows seemed to be boarded up and barricaded.

"Do you think- "Lynn began, but was quickly interrupted by Luan screaming.

"Luna, look out!"

They all turned and were shocked to see a group of about thirty adults charging towards the left side of the car.

"Oh, shit!" Luna yelled.

Everyone in the car began to scream as a tall, shirtless, muscular adult chucked a brick at the car. Leaving a large crack in the windshield.

All the kids in the car screamed louder at the sound of the brick bouncing off of the car. There was no doubt in Luna's mind that that brick would've killed her had it made it through the windshield.

She quickly shifted the car in reverse, then as she backed up she looked to see a bunch of grown-ups running towards the car from behind as well. She continued to back away as some of the adults where swept underneath the car and other hung on to the trunk of the car. She couldn't see where she was going and then the car suddenly backed into a parked car.

Luna cursed and shifted the car back into drive. Adults where beginning to surround the entire car and bang their fists on the windows, sending the kids into a panicked frenzy. Then the shirtless adult from earlier prepared to launch another brick at the car. Luna slammed on the gas and ducked as the adult lobbed a brick again. It bounced away as it connected with the windshield again, this time it took out a larger chunk of the front window. Luna kept her foot on the gas and the adult jumped in the air before the car slammed into him, to avoid being completely run over.

Luna swore again as the adult clung onto the hood of the car, the other adults weren't as smart as this one was and were completely buried by the car.

Everyone in the car was shouting at Luna to be careful, but she was too pissed at this adult to listen to them. Unfortunately, the adult blocked her sight of the road. She swerved back and forth and then ended up clipping another parked car. It was enough to send the car to a halt which caused the adult to fly off the hood. The damages were also enough to prevent the car from moving anymore. Tears began to fill Luna's eyes as she frantically turned the keys in the ignition. But there was no life left in the car.

 _This can't be it._ She thought, hopelessly _We didn't even make it that far from our house._ Had Luna known that this was going to happen she never would've let Lynn talk her out of leaving.

"Look!" Lynn shouted, pointing towards the front doors of the school.

A group of about ten teens began to emerge from the building, they all seemed to be around Luna, and Luan's age. A lot of them were carrying baseball bats and sharp sticks that were probably supposed to be spears.

"Everyone, run for the school!" Luna demanded.

They all exited the right side of the car since the adults were way too close to the left side of the car.

The kids had no choice but to leave their possession behind.

Luan got out of the passenger side first, and her siblings soon leapt out from the back. As Lana and Lola hopped out of the car they accidentally dropped their pets. Walt quickly flew away, several adults clawed at the bird as he flew over them, but they all missed him. Geo's hamster ball bounced towards the adults. One of the grown-ups swooped up the hamster ball. He became frustrated as he and other adults tried to get the ball open. Apparently, they forgot how to open a simple hamster ball. So instead the adult began to slam the ball on the ground repeatedly until in broke open. All the adults fought over the hamster tearing several small pieces from the poor, defenseless little animal.

"Geo!" Lola screamed as Lynn dragged her and Lana away.

Lana managed to break free from Lynn's grasp, she had to save her pet frog, and lizard. Ignoring her sisters' shouts, she ran up to her pets that were trying to flee from the adults. She reached down towards them when suddenly a lofty adult wearing a mechanics outfit stomped down on Hops, causing the frogs eyeballs to pop out of their sockets, and swooped Izzy up, then bit down and ripped his head off.

"NO!" Lana cried.

The adult looked down at her and hint of satisfaction slowly formed on his face. It was as if he knew what he was doing was tearing Lana up inside.

Lana watched as the adult chewed slowly and forcefully. Savoring the moment. Lana began to reach for her wrench that was attached to her tool belt when Luna came up from behind, and lifted her up.

"Are you nuts?" She yelled, and began to run, carrying Lana towards the school before the younger sister could say anything.

"Hops! Izzy!" Lana cried again, as the adult became further away, the proud look on his face grew as he continued to chew.

As they all ran towards the school, Lincoln and Clyde recognized a kid that was holding the door open, and waving them inside.

"Rusty!" Lincoln and Clyde both said.

The zit faced kid smiled as they drew closer.

Luan reached the doors first. Once inside, she looked back to make sure her siblings made it in safely too.

Lisa made it through the doors first followed by Lucy who was carrying a crying Lily. Lincoln and Clyde then made it into the building with their dog Charles right beside them, followed by Lynn who was dragging a sobbing Lola. Finally, Luna reached the doors, carrying a tearful Lana. They all looked out as the kids who ran out to defend them began to make their way back towards the school, after realizing that the newcomers were safe.

 **2\. Asylum**

Rusty slammed the door shut just as the adult reached them. An older kid quickly placed an iron bar between the door handles while another one wrapped it with chains and latched a lock onto them.

Lincoln, his siblings and Clyde all breathed heavily as adults began to beat on the doors. The sounds filled the front hall causing the newcomers to jump.

"Don't worry, they're not getting in," said a kid.

The Loud family all looked to see a smiling face looking at them.

"Stan?" Luna and Luan both said.

"It's good to see that you made it." Stan said.

They all looked around the room it was dark because the windows were all boarded up. A candle added the only source of light.

"Thanks," was all Luna and her siblings could say.

Stan's smile grew. "Don't mention it."

"I sure am glad to see you guys," Rusty said.

Lincoln and Clyde both turned towards him.

"Same here," said Lincoln, and they all high-fived each other.

"Were you able to find your sister?" Luna asked Stan.

"Yes, she's safe in the gymnasium."

Luna's mind then shifted to about how close they were to dying. "They ambushed us, one of them threw a brick at us."

"Yeah, we call that one, _Brick_." Stan told them.

Lana began to sob. "One of them wearing a mechanic uniform killed my pets." She buried her head against Luna's chest.

Luna patted her on the back.

Stan turned to her. "Yeah, we call that one, _Grease Monkey_."

They all continued to look around the room.

"How did you do this?" Luna asked.

The smile withdrew from Stan's face.

"It wasn't easy. Me, Duke, and Joey were able to kill off a lot of adults. Turns out those two really know how to put up a fight. Soon other teens showed up and we managed to kill all of the adults in this school."

"Even coach Pacoswki?" Lincoln asked.

"Yep," Stan answered. "When we found him, he was stuck in an air vent. It took a lot of us to pull him out and once we began to make progress Duke took a wooden broom handle that he carved into a spear and stabbed him in the back to paralyze him and then he put him out of his misery with a jab to the head."

Lincoln looked at Clyde and then to his younger siblings. They all looked relieved to hear that Coach Pacowski would never be able to bother them again.

Stan continued. "Next we used chains to lock up all the doors in the school and then we used the wood from the wood shop room, and the hardware store across the street to board up the windows."

Lincoln thought of all the windows in the school.

"All of the windows?" He asked.

"Well, not all of them," Stan answered. "Once we ran out of boards and decided to stop taking trips to get more, we locked up the double doors leading to hallways that were full of classroom windows we wouldn't be able to board up. Once that was finished we dragged all the dead bodies to the roof and threw them off the school."

Lincoln and everyone else couldn't believe how quickly they were able to accomplish all of that. But then again, When Lincoln and his siblings all worked together on a task, they got it done in no time. Like the time when Lori was babysitting them, and they'd had enough of her not letting them to do anything. So, he convinced his siblings to ambush her and leave her tied up to a chair, that way they could all do whatever they wanted to. The only problem was they ended up trashing the house and Lincoln quickly got fed up with their behavior and decided to apologize to Lori and let her be in charge again. She ended up telling them that mom and dad were on their way home. That prompted his siblings to abandon their bad, destructive behavior and quickly start cleaning up the house, the house went from a disaster zone- to a perfect example of cleanliness in a matter of minutes.

"Where is everyone?" Luna asked.

"A lot of kids usually hang out in the gym," said Stan, "others sit around in the auditorium. In fact, I think that's where Duke is right now, let me take you to him."

"Duke… Duke Melville, Is he in charge?"

"Yes," Stan answered, "He'll definitely want to meet you all."

Luna dreaded the fact that Duke Melville was the kid in charge. After all, he was kind of an asshole. He always had to get his way, like the times where she was in gym class and Duke didn't like the way a certain play to a game they were playing went he'd always go off on his team, and when Luna was younger she was partnered with him for a group project, he'd hardly ever let her get a say in anything, and once they turned their project in and got a B-, Duke wasn't happy. He ended up blaming her for what he considered to be a failure. And since Duke was in charge that probably meant Joey was second in command. He could be just as obnoxious as Duke. He was like a yes-man to him, always hyping him up and going along with whatever stupid things Duke was getting into.

"All right then," Luna said, faking a smile.

They waited until everyone was calmed down.

Luna set Lana down and Lucy handed Lily to her as Stan, another kid named Jeremy, and Rusty escorted them to the auditorium. While the other teens dispersed.

As they continued down the hall, they passed some small groups of teens who loitered in the hallway. A lot of them watched without saying anything as the Loud siblings passed them. However, some of them did smile, while other shot them looks of sympathy, because everyone knew who the Loud family was, they were probably the most well-known family in Royal Woods. They knew there were supposed to be eleven of them, but the teens counted nine of them. Lincoln watched as smiles faded from some teens faces once they figured out what that meant. They had to have figured out that whatever this disease was; it only affected people sixteen and older. Which meant that the two oldest of the Loud siblings were dead.

As they reached the auditorium there were two teens leaning against the wall next to the doors. One of them noticed Lily.

"Oh great," He sarcastically remarked to himself. But the Loud family heard him and they all shot him fierce looks. The teen nervously looked away once they did that.

"We're here," Stan announced.

"We know," said Lynn. "We've all been here before.

"Oh, right." Stan chuckled.

He opened the door and they took in everyone and everything that was in the auditorium. It was lit by candles as well, and there were kids spread throughout the room a lot of them were just sitting on chairs talking among themselves, while others were sleeping on the chairs.

Stan led them to the stage where Duke sat on a throne that was probably a prop used in a play involving a king, and just as Luna predicted, Joey was right next to him, holding an axe, sitting on a folding chair that didn't look anywhere as comfortable as the seat Duke rested on.

As they got closer to the stage Duke looked up and his facial expression changed from bored, to a look of annoyed confusion. He instantly sat up and was about to say something when suddenly a kid sitting on the edge of the stage pointed at the Loud family and spoke loud enough for the entire room to hear.

"Cheaper by the Dozen: Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Hilary Duff, Kevin G. Schmidt, Alyson Stoner, Liliana Mumy- "

"Be quiet, Randy." Duke told the kid before he could finish.

The Loud family was confused by the kids' random outburst. Which woke up some of the sleeping teens. Now, everyone noticed the guests that stood before the stage.

Luan recognized the kid, His name was Randy Whisk. He was in the same grade as her. Whenever he saw something that reminded him of a certain movie he would say it out loud and start naming actors from that certain movie. However, he would only name the actors that were well known or had at least one acting credit to their name in the last year. Which is a point he made when someone mentioned the movie, _Napoleon Dynamite._ A movie where pretty much everyone was in the credits. Whenever Randy started to rant all you had to do to get him to stop was say: "Be quiet, Randy," and that would shut him up.

Meanwhile, the other siblings had no idea. They thought he was just stating the obvious about a movie they were sure several people mentioned whenever the Loud family came up in a conversation.

Duke then turned back to the group.

"Stan, where did they come from?" He asked, pointing his spear at the fresh faces.

"Jeremy saw them traveling in a car and he went and got me, they were attacked by Brick and his gang." Stan told Duke. "So, I took a group of kids and helped them out."

"You should've told me first, before you went out there," said Duke.

Stan raised an eyebrow. "There was no time."

"You took a huge risk, dude. Do you have any idea how terrible it would've been if Brick and his gang got in here?"

Before Stan could say anything, Rusty spoke up.

"Lincoln and Clyde are my friends. There was no way I was going to let anyone leave them out there." Jeremy may have told Stan about the car. But when Rusty saw that it was Lincoln and his family inside the car he convinced Stan to gather up a group and go out there and help them.

Duke turned to the kid. "Rusty, please let the grown-ups talk."

"You're only four years older than me." Rusty protested.

"And four years stronger, so watch you're tone." Duke threatened.

"Look," said Stan, "They're here now, so we should be welcoming them, not questioning how dangerous it was to open the doors.

"We have a good thing going," Said Duke "How can we trust that they won't cause trouble."

"Oh yeah, we'd hate to ruin your well-oiled machine," Lynn finally spoke up, raising an arm and acknowledging everyone who was slouching in their seats.

Duke's gaze shifted towards the girl, he stared daggers into her, but she didn't budge.

"Do you have any idea how hard it was to take this place?" He began. He told them what Stan had told them earlier. "We even had to move a bus from outside into the school from the loading dock."

The Louds were impressed to hear that. Behind the auditorium there was a large door that vehicles could pull into whenever they had to make a large delivery. Most of it involved things for plays. Since the power no longer worked, Duke and his crew had to pull on chains to lift open the door while others moved the school bus in. It was an old bus, so it was able to survive the emp. The only problem was how they could fix it up. It needed gas, it's engine needed repaired, and it needed new tires.

"Look," Luna spoke up, breaking up the intense atmosphere. "We can help you, I'm sure you'll find us quite useful."

"What skills could you all possibly have to offer us?"

Luna thought for a few seconds. Luna was a musician, not very useful for survival but she was sure there were other skills she had that could prove useful. Lily was just a baby, so she was out of the discussion. Luan, however, was good with pranks, maybe she could set traps for the adults. Lynn was a very athletic and tough girl, she could prove to be quite useful in a fight, although Luna hated the thought of any of her siblings fighting infected adults. Lincoln was always coming up with plans and stuff like that, he could be a strategist- or something. She wasn't sure what Clyde could do. Lucy knew a lot about how the body and mind worked, she could also contact spirits, apparently. Not sure what good that would do though. Lana was a very useful handyman, she could help with the plumbing in the school and maybe fix up the bus. Lola may have been a pageant girl before all this, but she also knew how to cook and sew. And then there was Lisa.

 _Lisa, of course!_ Lisa was a genius probably the smartest person in the world, if anybody could come up with a cure for this disease it would be her.

Luna told Duke everything that just went through her head.

His eye's lit up when he realized that Lisa was a goldmine of knowledge.

"Okay, you can stay," he said, standing up. "Stan give them a little tour of the school and then let them settle into the gym."

Stan put his right hand up to his forehead in a saluting gesture. "Aye-aye, captain."

Duke watched as Stan led the kids out of the auditorium. His gaze was especially fixed on the little brown-haired girl with glasses. She was his golden ticket. He'd finally remembered how smart Lisa was. She was always in the headlines. Sometimes it was good news: like how she would create something useful, or bad news: like a robot she created would go on a rampage. There was no doubt that if she figured out exactly was going on with the adults and then came up with a cure; She would be a hero- and so would he. The dude who took her in, sheltered her, and gave her whatever she needed to help her find a cure.

He turned to Joey and smiled. "This should be good."

 **3\. Part of the group**

Stan led the new kids through the school. The Loud family thought it was silly, since they already knew where everything in the school was. However, there were some fresh takes on some of the rooms. One of the rooms- a science lab, was occupied by a kid that Luna recognized as _Brian Allen:_ the second smartest kid in Royal Woods, Michigan. There was also an adult chained down to a table. They were shocked to see this.

"Don't worry, he's not going anywhere." Stan laughed.

The teen noticed the visitors intruding on his space.

"Stan what are you doing here?" Brian scolded. "I told the guards not to let anyone in."

"What guards?"

Brian sighed. "Those lazy, impotent- "he stopped when he noticed Lisa. "Lisa… Lisa Marie Loud?"

Everyone looked at the younger Loud.

Brian walked up to her.

"It is you, I sure am glad to see you!"

Lisa didn't know the kid, but he sure knew her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said, holding out a hand.

Lisa didn't shake it.

Brian slowly moved the hand away, embarrassed. When he noticed some of them still staring at the chained-up adult he explained to them that he was studying it, hoping to find whatever was causing the adults to go mad.

"I've taken blood samples, skin samples, saliva samples, hair samples, even stool samples. So far I haven't come up with much information."

The Loud family winced when Brian mentioned "stool samples," It reminded them of Lisa's weird poop studies, it also meant that these things pooped.

 _Lisa and Brian should get along just fine._ Lincoln thought.

"I sure hope you'll be able to help me figure something out," Brian told Lisa. "You could save a lot of people."

Lisa thought of her classmates, and of Darcy. The fact that she couldn't save them constantly gnawed at her. There was nothing she wanted more than to figure out how this disease worked and put a stop to it.

"Of course," Lisa answered, "I'll get right on it."

"Excellent," Brian cheered. "I'll give you a day to settle in, then we can get right to work."

"Very well," Lisa nodded and then continued the tour with her family.

Next, Stan showed them the cafeteria, luckily there were some stoves that ran on gas, so they could still cook food, although they were running low, they'd been sending people out to scavenge, and since they were only a week into the new world a lot of stores still had plenty of fresh food and supplies.

Then he showed them the nurses office. There was an Indian kid reading a book sitting behind the nurse's desk. A single candle lit the room.

Stan introduced them. "This is Sanjay Bassi, his dad was a doctor before the apocalypse and he was always making Sanjay study to become one too. So, he's pretty much the closest thing we have to a doctor."

"Hello," he said, looking up from his book which they could tell was some sort of medical book.

They all introduced themselves.

Next, Stan showed them the doors that were chained up.

"We don't know what's behind these doors so it's best to just stay away from them."

Finally, after showing them some other rooms and empty classrooms- some of which were Lincoln's sisters classrooms and still had blood stains on the floor- they made it to the Gym.

"This is where pretty much everyone sleeps," he said, "You're allowed to hang around with people of the opposite gender, but when it's bed time boys sleep on one side of the gym and girls sleep on the other. However, if you have younger siblings of the opposite gender you're allowed to sleep next to them- but only them."

They all nodded. Lincoln was relieved to hear that.

Stan opened the double doors to the gym and everyone looked as the new arrivals entered the room.

The Louds studied all the faces that studied them. There seemed to be around fifty kids in the gym. A lot of them seemed happy to see Lincoln and his siblings, other seems surprised.

Lincoln saw a lot of faces that he recognized as Stan led them to an unoccupied gap in the room. He saw where his friend, Rusty was residing, and his little brother, Rocky. He also saw his other friend, Zachary. Along with a few of his other classmates. Lincoln looked over to where a group of girls where sitting, he saw Girl Jordan, Mollie, Penelope, and the girl who got bit in the cheek by Mrs. Johnson; it was stitched up. Lincoln was relieved to see that she was still alive, it meant that getting bit didn't turn you into a zombie- or whatever these things were. He also saw Cristina looking at him, their eyes met, and Lincoln slowly kept moving his head to make it look like he was scanning the room instead of looking at her. He used to have a crush on her and sometimes he acted out kissing her on Lucy's statue of Edwin. One day he uploaded the video to the internet in order to make things right when he recorded his sisters' most embarrassing moments so he could win an award to put in the Loud family's trophy case. That day seemed like a million years ago. Lincoln was sure that he was the least of her worries, now. But he still felt awkward looking at her.

He then looked over to the bleachers and saw Chandler and his reputable group of friends, Lincoln couldn't believe that he was somewhat glad to see that he was alive as well. It really spoke volumes to the situation.

"I guess this is where you girls will be sleeping." Stan pointed as they stood on the girls' side of the gym.

The ground was covered with gym mats that had been laid out. Pillows and blankets had been tailored using supplies from the home economics room.

Stan then pointed to where Lincoln and Clyde would sleep. He also told Lincoln that he could sleep next to his sisters on the girl side of the room if he chose to, but he had to sleep between his older sisters. Unfortunately, Clyde wouldn't be able to sleep next to the Loud sisters since they weren't related. The Loud family felt bad. Clyde had no one. Lincoln told Clyde that after he and his siblings got settled in, he'd sleep next to him from then on.

"It'll be just like a permanent sleepover," He said. That made Clyde smile.

"Stan!" A little voice called out.

They all looked to see a dark-haired girl running up to Stan.

"Hey Sally," he said to her as she jumped into his arms.

Stan introduced them to his sister. She was a small, seven year old.

"She always gets excited when I come back, no matter how short I've been gone."

Stan told them about how he, and his friends found Sally, and a bunch of other little kids hiding in a storage closet. He told them that protecting the little kids gave them all the incentive they needed to power through the crazy adults.

His story reminded Lincoln of how he'd put his life on the line to protect his sisters.

Stan then told everyone else in the room to make these new guests feel welcome. They were all family now. He then told the newcomers if they needed anything else to ask Trinity. He pointed to a tall, pretty, fourteen-year-old blonde girl on the other end of the room who was watching over a lot of the younger kids. She waved at them and then turned her attention back to the kids.

He eventually stepped out to resume his duties- whatever they were- and left newcomers in the auditorium with a bunch of other kids and a few big kids that were there to also watch over the little ones, but Trinity seemed to be the only one who actually seemed interested in watching the kids. A few kids walked up to the Lincoln, Clyde, and the siblings to say hi to them and to ask them what it was like out there and how they survived. Once that was done Mollie- the girl who Lincoln and Clyde had kind of rescued from the school secretary- walked up to them, smiling.

She hugged them and thanked them for saving her from Cheryl. Then she walked back over to her group of friends and Lincoln looked back to his sisters to see them smiling at him.

"What? She's just a friend," he said, and he meant it.

"Okay," They all said in a playful tone.

Lincoln groaned.

Apparently, not even an outbreak of infected adults could stop his sisters from obsessing over whenever a girl so much as smiled at him.

That's when Lincoln thought of Ronnie Anne. Was she alright? She lived several miles away with her extended family. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it must be like for her, A lot of her relatives were over the age of sixteen, but what about her younger cousins? There's no way any of them could survive attacking adults, but could she be strong enough? Brave Enough? As far as Lincoln could guess she was either dead or possibly surviving with a ragtag group of teens who are just as tough as she is.

Lincoln continued to look around the room. "I guess this is our home now," he said.

 **4\. Sorrow**

A few hours had passed since Lincoln, his siblings and Clyde arrived at the school. The adults who had attacked them earlier had since dispersed. Lincolns older siblings and a few other teens were able to gather up some of their things from Mr. Grouse's car. There main goal had been to get Lisa's science supplies. They found a crib for Lily to sleep in that was in the child development room, they also had some diapers that they brought with them. But, eventually they were going to run out and then they'd have to use newspapers.

A while later Stan offered to take them to the roof and show them that there were pots set up there to plant seeds and grow food. Once they reached the roof, they were more interested in looking out into the town of Royal Woods than they were the fruits and vegetables growing in the dirt.

From there, they could see all the devastation that had resulted from the plague: There were crashed cars littering the street, bones scattered everywhere, some smoke billowing in the distance, blood stains on the street, smashed windows on houses and stores, and dead adults lying in the street. Apparently, adults didn't eat other adults.

They all held each other as they thought of the friends and family and lives they left behind, they were never going to have normal lives again. The kids were responsible for themselves now. No parent was going to make them feel safe, no adult was going to look after them, no teacher was going to teach them. They had taken it all for granted, their parents loved them, cared for them, worried for them. But now they were stuck with their parents' jobs, the older kids were the parents now. They thought they had their whole lives to look forward to, dreams to set up, goals to accomplish, wishes to come true. But it was all gone now.

They were all lost.

 **5\. Christopher Savinski III**

"Alright, start talking," Chris demanded as he and the adult sat across from each other with Chris pointing his Glock 19 at the adult. He'd asked the adult if they could be killed and the adult answered truthfully; Yes, they could. Other than that, they couldn't die of old age. Once they took control of a body the body stayed that way forever.

The adult wanted to tell him that the gun wasn't necessary but decided not to. He continued to tell Chris everything he knew.

 _We have traveled several light-years. Searching for a planet with suitable hosts. One we could call home._

"Suitable hosts?" Chris asked.

 _Yes, a planet where we could take control of people's minds, gain their knowledge, and consume their young ones._

"Whose we?"

 _The microorganisms that resided on that meteor that exploded over your planet._

"Why weren't kids infected?" Chris asked.

 _Their brains weren't developed enough for us to take control over._

"What happens once they get old enough?"

 _Nothing_ , the adult answered, _Once the meteor explodes we linger in the air for only a few hours if we can't find anyone to take control of, then we're shit out of luck._

"Why do you eat kids?"

 _We require the flesh of the organisms living on the planet to keep our minds fresh, if we fail to do so, we become dumb. We will begin to fail at the most basic of things: such as walking straight, opening doors, wielding weapons. If that happens we will rely on the smarter ones to guide us, ones that have consumed the most flesh out of the group. Which is probably why the blast didn't affect you. You already had the flesh of your species flowing through you._

 _Interesting_ , thought Chris, "How am I able to hear your voice in my head, can you speak to each other telepathically?"

 _Yes_ , the adult answered, _that's how I knew you were in here. I heard your thoughts, and I could sense your brain waves giving off a tremendous amount of energy. You give off the most powerful vibe out of any adult I've encountered. Even though I've only been on this planet for about a week._

So that's why he was able to hear the other adults.

"So, what happened to the people whose bodies you've taken over, do they know they're possessed or something?"

 _I don't know?_ the adult answered.

"Can you remember anything about the person you've taken over? Like, what was his name?"

The adult pondered the question. _Just bits and pieces,_ he answered, _and as for the name, I don't remember._

Chris began to hear more voices speaking in his mind, they were calling out to him.

 _It sounds like you've got quite the audience growing outside._

Chris got up and peered outside his window. There were about one hundred adults standing outside of his house. Each of them were carrying pieces of dead kids.

 _They need a leader,_ the adult told Chris.

A leader, huh? Chris liked the sound of that.

He looked back at the adult and smiled.

"Okay," he said, "You'll be my second in command, also I'm going to call you _Crony_ from now on

Crony smiled his creepy smile.

 _Okay._

Chris stepped out onto his porch and the adults continued to gaze upon him with yearning stares. He was their leader.

Chris wondered what he should do first.

"Be quiet," he ordered

The voices in his head stopped.

"Everyone jump exactly one time," Chris demanded

They all jumped, even Crony. Some of them seemed to have trouble, they were probably the weaker ones.

"Jump again."

They all jumped again.

"Jump ten times."

They did just that. Some of them fell over though, but they clumsily stood back up.

"Punch yourselves in the face."

The yard was filled the sounds of fists connecting to faces.

Chris' heart was pounding with joy as he though of another command, "Kneel to me."

Everyone fell to one knee

Chris smiled to himself. This was too good to be true he could use this army to gather up kids to eat for himself. As far as he knew there were no other cannibals in Michigan before the blast, so no other adult would be as powerful as he was.

"Yes," he said to himself, "this should be really good."

* * *

 _This concludes part 1 of The Lost series. I originally planned on uploading the sequels as a different stories but I've decided to just continue to upload them as new chapters to The Lost._

 _Anyway, I really hope you readers are enjoying the story. I really enjoy writing it, although sometimes I feel like I could do better in some scenes. I know I'm not a professional writer by any stretch of the imagination, but I do try my darnedest. And if it's good enough for you guys, then it's good enough for me. I have a lot scenes that I look forward to writing my only problem is thinking of parts leading up to them, if you get what I'm saying._

 _Stay tuned for the next part of the story: The Dread._


	4. The Mission

**The Dread**

 **Chapter 1: The Mission**

 **1\. A Speck on the earth (Speck I)**

Dominic Garder sat in the back office of his dads hunting shop. He stared at the figure that was tied to a metal pipe. The figure stared back at him with hungry eyes. Dominic then turned his attention to all the guns that lie next to him: pistols, revolvers, shotguns, and hunting rifles. Dominic had picked up several guns and aimed them at the figures head, but he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger.

"I'm sorry dad," he'd say every time.

He wondered if there were any kids that had been forced to kill their parents.

Throughout his entire life, all Dominic had was his dad. He's spent so much time with him: Hunting, fishing, playing sports, watching their favorite shows. Now he'd never be able to do anything with him ever again, except be forced to watch as he struggled in his restraints.

Dominic stood up and made his way to the roof of the shop. Whenever he needed a break from watching his dad, he'd go up to the roof and watch the world plunge deeper into chaos. At the beginning the roads were filled with terrified children being devoured by adults. Now they were barren.

He thought back to the beginning; He was in school when the sky lit up and then the adults went mad. He made his way here where he knew his dad would be. He was alone in his office and once Dominic arrived and managed fend off his dad he locked up the shop and decided to make it his temporary shelter.

Dominic looked over the parapet and onto the streets below. Only a few adults wandered by. None of them noticed Dominic. He felt like the loneliest person in the world. He had no family or friends. All he had was himself.

That's all he was.

A speck on the earth.

 **2\. Wake-up call**

 _One week later…_

"Luna, Luan, Lynn, please come with me!" Joey called out into the dark gymnasium.

Several kids shifted in their sleep as the Loud sisters lifted their heads from their pillows. Between them were their younger siblings. With Lily sleeping in her crib beside the family. The twins rested on either side of Luna and they huddled closer to her as she moved.

Luna watched through blurry eyes as the small flame of a candle drew nearer to where they were lying down at. Revealing a hard face with lengthy blond hair.

"Come on you three, Duke wants to talk to you."

Joey made no effort to keep quiet, which pissed everybody off. Why did he have to shout and wake everyone up instead of just walking up to the Loud sisters and quietly nudge them up?

No one was going to confront him though. Joey was a strong kid and could probably beat up everyone in the room.

There was the time he got into a fight with a kid almost three times his size. The bigger kid punched him right in the face, breaking his nose. However, Joey just shook off the hit and- even though he had a broken nose- ended up headbutting the kid which knocked him out cold. Then he twisted his nose back into place and went on about his day.

There was also the time at Duke's house where he dared Joey to ride a bike off his roof and try to land on a trampoline. Joey, not being one to refuse a dare, did just that. Only he ended up missing the trampoline and completely injuring his body. However, Joey just got up and walked home. He didn't even tell his dad. It wasn't until the next day at school that the teachers noticed something wrong with him and he had to go to the nurse. She realized that he had several broken bones and ended up calling his dad. He wasn't happy about having to leave work, so when his dad arrived at school he and Joey ended up getting into a fist fight. He managed to beat up his dad though, even with all his broken bones. The police had to be called and Joey ended up staying with his grandparents from then on.

Lynn was the first one to put on her shoes and stand up. She had been waking up early every morning all week to get a head start on working out in the exercise room. So, this was just like any other day for her. She was still annoyed though.

Luan lifted her body up in a sitting positioned and rubbed her eyes. She was too tired to even tell a joke.

Luna put her head back on her pillow, placed a hand across her eyes and inhaled. _What could Duke possibly want this early?_

"Come on, Luna," Joey demanded.

Luna ignored him. She wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and drift back into a deep sleep, surrounded by the warm, loving embrace of Lana and Lola.

Joey nudged her with his axe handle.

"Wake up, Little Miss Punk Rock."

"Watch it," she finally said, lifting her head back up and swatting the handle away from her and the twins.

Now all the Loud siblings were awake.

Luna looked to her sides. She couldn't spot Lisa, which meant she was most likely still in the science room, still studying the adult. Since the day after they've arrived she'd had to have spent at least ninety-five percent of her time in that. The other five percent was spent eating, and using the bathroom.

"Where are you taking them?" asked Lincoln.

"I'm taking them to auditorium," Joey answered, "Duke just has a little job for them to do. No biggie."

Lincoln didn't believe that it was no big deal. It must have been important since apparently it couldn't wait until later.

"Can we come with?" The twins asked.

"No," Joey answered. "This meeting only requires your older sisters."

Luna and Luan both put their shoes on and stood up.

Joey began to lead them away, when Lana and Lola both wrapped their arms around Luna's legs

"Please don't take out sisters," they cried.

Joey rolled his eyes.

"Whoa, Whoa. It's okay," Luna assured them, "We'll just be gone a little while."

"You promise?" They asked through tear filled eyes.

"I promise."

Joey knew that she was wrong. What Duke had planned for the sisters would probably take them at least a few hours. He decided not to say anything though.

Lincoln walked up and gingerly pulled the twins away from their sister. The twins then wrapped their arms around Lincoln.

"Come one, let's go back to bed," he told them, and led them back to the mat. Lucy, who was holding their dog Charles, joined in their embrace as soon as they sat down.

They watched as Joey led the sisters out of the Gym.

The room was soon consumed by darkness as the doors shut and Lincoln could no longer see the orange glow of the candle shine on the walls through the small windows of the gym door.

The room was dead quiet.

Then, a tired, bitter voice spoke just loud enough for the whole gym to hear.

"What a fucking asshole."

Some of younger kids gasped, while a lot of the older kids snickered. Some teens reprimanded the voice.

Lincoln and his siblings paid no mind to the quarreling voices. They were too concentrated on wondering what Duke had in store for their older siblings.

 **3\. Briefing**

Once they entered the dimly lit auditorium the Loud sisters noticed three new teens standing on the stage talking to Duke, with Stan and Jeremy standing right next to him, along with a thirteen-year old named Cooper. He was a classmate of Lynn's. He'd been captain of the middle school's basketball team before the blast.

Luna recognized the three teens from her grade: Jay, Eric, and Franklin were their names. Where did they come from?

"Oh, good you're here," Duke said as they approached the stage.

"Yeah, we're here," Lynn barked, "Now what do you want?"

Luna stuck an arm out in front of Lynn.

"Sorry, what she means is: it's really early in the morning, so we'd like to know what's so important?"

Duke spoke, "As I'm sure you've noticed, we have visitors," he gestured to the teens standing next to him, "They tell me that they've come from the middle school searching for help and supplies."

"What does that have to do with us?" Lynn asked, annoyed.

"I'm gonna need you girls to help them deliver some things to the middle school."

"Do we look like mail carriers to you?"

Luna shushed Lynn.

"I'm sorry," the older sister began, "but why do you need us to deliver some things to the middle school?"

"Because, I think it's time you three started to carry your own weight."

The Loud sisters slightly winced at that phrase. If you were older than twelve, you had to help around the school. But some of their younger sisters were special, they possessed some very useful skills.

Luna began to reflect on all the Loud siblings had done in the last week: Lisa was hard at work studying the adult in the science room, she had created some concoctions she hoped would be able to cure the adults, but they didn't. Nevertheless, they could still be used to treat ailments. Lola had been spending time in the home economics room helping stich up pillows and blankets, as well as helping cook meals for kids in the cafeteria. Lana had been busy with the school's plumping system, keeping the water flowing smoothly, she'd also been helping repair the bus. Lucy had been spending a lot of time in the vents so there wasn't much she'd been doing to help- but she was only eight, so she didn't really have to do anything. Lincoln had been striking up friendships with a lot of kids at the school. Everyone liked Lincoln. Meanwhile, Lily was just a baby so there wasn't anything she could do. Luna had spent most of her time playing some instruments and singing to the younger kids; It helped take their minds off the screwed-up world outside, but it didn't really help in the long run. Luan had been telling jokes and sometimes performing little magic tricks for the younger kids, she'd been making a lot of people laugh. Lynn, on the other hand spent most of her time in the school's workout room. A lot of kids were intimidated by her grueling workout, so they stayed away from her when she lifted heavy weights, or went to work on a punching bag.

She supposed Duke was right, it wasn't fair to everyone else that Luna just got to sit around and play instruments.

"Okay fine," Luna began. "But why did you have to wake us up so early?"

"Well for starters: these fellas just arrived and it's urgent, they need medical supplies, I'm sure Lisa's potions- or whatever- should suffice. Also, you've gotta be able to get up quickly and jump into action." Duke told them. "So, go get ready, and say goodbye to your sisters, because you've got quite a way to go," he then acknowledged the three familiar kids standing next to him. "Don't worry, Stan, Jeremy, and Cooper will go with you."

The Loud sisters sighed, and walked out of the room with Stan, Jeremy, and Cooper. The kids from the middle school followed them.

Once they all left the auditorium it was just Duke and Joey alone on the stage.

Joey turned to Duke.

"Why are you _really_ making them do this?" he asked. "Lisa is all ready busy enough as it is working on finding out about this disease. Does she really need the thought of her sisters being out on an expedition to the middle school to distract her?"

Now Duke turned to Joey.

"Think about it, dude. Lisa is working as hard as she can to find something out about this disease. She has the fact that her two older sisters and friends she had before the blast are dead to keep her working strenuously."

Joey nodded. "Okay?"

"There was nothing she could've done to prevent them from dying. However, if any of her siblings die after the fact, that'll motivate her even more to find a cure for the disease. She'll ending working harder than ever, which might end up getting us a cure sooner rather than later."

"So, you're sending them out there in the hopes that they'll die?"

"I don't want them to die," Duke answered. "But if they do, it just might work out in our favor."

Joey sneered "You're so bad."

"I know," Duke acknowledge.

"And awesome."

"You got that right."

"And sexy."

Duke frowned, "It's never gonna happen, Joey."

"Oh fiddlesticks," Joey pouted.

 **4\. Departure**

"No, you can't go!" Lola shouted at her older sisters, and began to cry.

Tears began to fill in Lana's eyes as well.

"We'll just be gone a little while," Luna assured them.

But it did little to ease their sobs. Even Lily was crying, even though it was only because she'd now been woken by her sister's cries.

The gym was now dimly lit by the sun beginning to rise. Even though the Loud family still couldn't see anyone else in the gym, they could feel the eyes of several kids glaring at them.

Meanwhile, Stan stood behind the older Loud sisters while the other teens stood in the doorway waiting for them to finish saying goodbye.

He'd already been on a few scavenging trips in the last week, so his younger sister wasn't really worried about him going out there when he told her about the expedition he was about to embark on.

"Why is Duke making you do this?" Lincoln asked, trying his best to keep his composure. "Why doesn't he just do it himself?"

Luna told him what Duke told them a few minutes ago.

"Yeah, and besides, he's got to keep an eye on this place," Stan added.

The Loud family all turned to Stan and shot him some harsh looks.

Stan took the hint that he should stay out of the discussion.

"But it could be dangerous," said Lucy.

"Don't worry," Luna told them, "Stan and the rest have been out there before, they've even battled some grown-ups. They're not to hard to handle, and those kids from the middle school said they got here without any trouble at all."

The younger louds just continued to stare with their worried expressions. They still hadn't gotten over the attack from a week ago when that one adult lobbed a brick at Mr. Grouse's car, some of adults were smarter than the others, they knew how to use blunt force objects as weapons; those were the ones you had to watch out for.

"Look, we'd have to go out there sooner or later" Lynn began. "So why not get it out of the way early?"

The loud siblings looked at her and then to Luan, who hadn't said anything yet.

"Luan are you okay with this?" Lincoln asked.

"No, I'm not," she told them. "But like Duke said, I'm going to have to carry my own weight, luckily I don't weigh that much," a smile grew on her worried face.

"This isn't funny, Luan," Lola began to cry.

"No, this isn't funny, but you know what is funny?"

The louds all stared at her.

"The smell in this gym," she laughed. "I actually can't wait to get out of here and get some fresh air."

The younger Louds still weren't laughing.

There were sounds of kids shifting on the mats next to the Loud family. Some of the kids groaned at Luan's joke while others talked quietly, but sharply among themselves. There was no doubt that every person in the gym was tired of being woken up this morning. The fact that the sun was beginning to rise meant they'd all have to get up soon.

However, none of them wanted to break up the family's farewell.

"It'll just be a quick trip to the middle school, there are sick kids there who need help, and Lisa's made some medicine that can probably help them, we promise we'll be back soon," said Luna.

The younger Louds realized that begging was pointless and became resolved to the fact that their sisters had no choice.

Lily continued to cry though.

Luna walked up and picked her up, she tried offering her: her giraffe plush, a bottle of baby milk that they kept in an ice chest, she even tried rocking her in her arms.

Nothing worked.

That's when Luna had an idea. She began to sing.

 _Cheer up, baby, don't you cry_

 _No more tears, it's cheer up time_

 _Laugh with me and we will be_

 _Happy, happy, happy!_

Lily began to calm down.

The Loud family could hear some kids groan again, they must've known where that song was from. The siblings didn't care though, because they also joined Luna in singing.

Soon Lily was asleep. Luna set her down and kissed her on her forehead.

"Hey where did you get that song from?" a boy asked.

Luna told him it was from Fenton the Feel-Better Fox.

Suddenly a new voice filled the gym. It was Randy's.

"Fantastic Mr. Fox: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Owen Wilson-

"Be quiet, Randy," almost everyone in the gym said.

Somehow, that didn't wake Lily up.

"All right," said Lincoln as the gym became quiet again. "Please be careful."

"Don't worry," Luna assured. "We'll be fine."

"Good-bye," the younger Louds all said.

"Don't say that," Luna said. "Say 'see you later.'"

Luna smiled and they all hugged each other.

* * *

Lisa rubbed her eyes as she worked tirelessly, searching for any sign of a change in the adult that lied on the table before her.

Nothing.

She and Brian had tried everything they could think of, such as: injecting the adult with blood of a non-infected kid, giving it all kinds of medicine, and performing surgery on its brain. Although it wasn't easy trying to get this thing to sleep.

Lisa wasn't going to give up, whenever she felt discouraged, she imagined Lori and Leni wandering around aimlessly, doomed to roam the earth as mad, bloodthirsty monstrosities if she couldn't find a cure to this disease. She also remembered the sights and sounds of her classmates being slaughtered while she cowered in a drawer.

Brian had gone to sleep a few hours ago, but there was no way Lisa would take time to sleep. She couldn't sleep knowing that with each passing moment, another life could be lost to the disease.

There was knock at the door.

"Lisa it's us," said a voice she recognized to be Luna's.

 _What did she want?_ Lisa wondered.

The door opened, and her three oldest sisters walked in along with Stan, and some other kids. Lisa hadn't really taken the time to learn people's names.

"Hello," Lisa said. "What's the nature of your visit?"

Luna explained everything.

Lisa's heart began to beat unsteadily at the thought of her sisters going out into the dangerous world. She began to imagine every possible thing that could happen to her sisters out there: They could be ripped apart by adults, attacked by a group of unruly teens, be fatally wounded by stumbling into debris.

The possibilities were endless.

However, there was nothing Lisa wanted more than to help kids in need. If her medicine could save just one kid, maybe it would be enough to ease her conscience.

"Okay, you can have my concoctions."

She went and got them, they were all now stored in a backpack. It was decided that Eric would carry the pack of medical supplies since he was the biggest and the strongest.

"Please, be careful," Lisa said, as she handed them the medicine that was now sealed in a backpack. "I can't have anymore deaths on my mind."

"We will," Luna said with a smile.

Lisa hugged Luna and her other siblings. It had been a while since she'd done that. For the last week she'd been pushing herself away from her siblings. Away from the world. All for the sake of finding out anything about the disease. Lisa realized that she really needed these hugs.

She spoke as soon as the hugs ended.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I really need get back to work."

"Go save the world, sis," Luna cheered. "But don't forget to chillax at least once in a while."

Lisa nodded and went back to her studies, as her sisters left the room.

 _I'm going to find a way to stop this thing if it kills me._

* * *

The group grabbed their melee weapons from the classroom that had been turned into a storeroom for weapons and decided to leave through the back entrance of the school. A kid named Doug guarded the door. He had a short hair and a big nose, He looked just like _Doug Funnie_ from the show _Doug_. The other kids must've made fun of him to no end because of the unfortunate similarities.

Doug greeted them and then unlocked the padlock that was latched onto the chains on the door and opened the it.

"This is it," Stan said. "Are you girls nervous?"

Luna and Luan both admitted they were, but Lynn stuck to her lie of not being afraid of anything. Stan told her that he wished he had her spunk.

The group headed off into the dawn of the new world. Luna felt bad for not letting her younger siblings see them off at the door, but she just wanted to get away from them as soon as possible. If she stayed with them any longer she'd probably ending breaking down, and ruining her brave act. She needed to continue to look strong in front of her siblings, seeing as she was the oldest.

 **5\. Off to the middle school**

The sun continued to rise over a hill, filling the sky with an orange glow. There weren't any grown-ups in sight. They must still be asleep. According to Lisa, adults could sleep. They mostly slept at night though, which is when the teens usually went on supply runs. Luckily batteries weren't affected by the blast. So, they could use flashlights whenever they entered a dark building. But, batteries were very precious and only to be used when you couldn't see your hand in front of your face when scavenging, or during emergencies. Which is why they used candles to light the school.

Luna decided to strike up a conversation with Jay. Jay was a tall, lanky, brown-haired fifteen-year-old. Who was on the track team before the blast.

"So, what's it like at the middle school," Luna asked Jay.

"It's all right, Brock does a wonderful job managing things."

"Brock Howard?" Luna guessed, if any teen could lead a group during an apocalypse it would be him.

"Yeah. He's a great leader. I was with him since the beginning. He rallied up a group of about ten of us, including Eric and Franklin. He nodded towards his two friends.

Eric was a beefy kid with dark greasy hair who used to be on the wrestling team. A problem a lot of kids had with him was, he'd always smell like he hadn't showered in a few days and it seemed to give him a slight advantage during his wrestling matches. Sometimes the teachers would make him go to the gym locker rooms and take a shower.

Franklin looked kind of geeky with wire-framed glasses. He was, however, very athletic. Like whenever they had to do strenuous activities in gym he'd look like a machine whenever he did push-up, pull-ups, and curl-ups. It seemed to bother a lot of the kids who were star athletes on the school's sports teams. He carried a slingshot and his eyes slowly gazed across the streets and fields.

"He's also very brave," Jay went on. "He'd take on several adults without a care in the world. Thank goodness they aren't that good at defending themselves."

Luna agreed.

"He led us to the middle school in hopes of making it a permanent shelter. He was quickly able to deduce that only people sixteen and older were affected by the disease, which meant our parents were all dead. It wasn't easy for any of us to accepts but he helped everyone get through it. He told us to focus on staying alive and helping others, so we did just that; we fortified the school and went out to go find other kids. I'd say we saved about fifty kids or so.

Luna thought about how many kids resided in the elementary school. It had to be about the same number.

"We need more people like him. Brave people. People who'd do anything to help those in need. Like you did when you charged towards those adults to save your sister."

Luna could feel her stomach tingle. She remembered the fear on Luan's face as the adults chased her relentlessly. Arms extended, faces scowling, teeth barring. She never wanted to see that look on any of her siblings faces again and she'd do anything to prevent it.

"Twelve o'clock," Franklin said quietly, so that only the group could hear him.

Up ahead they could see an adult kneeled down before the corpse of an animal, digging into it feverishly.

Franklin and took aim and pulled his sling back. He released the sling which sent a good-sized steel ball flying towards the grown-up. The adults head jerked to the side and then it lied still on the road.

"Nice shot," Jay complemented.

The elementary school group was shocked that a slingshot could put down an adult. Clearly this slingshot wasn't a toy.

They all walked up to the adult and then looked at the body of the animal. It was a dog.

"Do you think any animals were affected by the disease?" Stan asked to no one in particular.

"I haven't seen any that were, yet," Franklin answered.

The group continued down the road.

Birds were beginning to chirp in the trees.

Stan envied the birds. They didn't have to fight to stay alive. They could just carry on with their day. Singing cheerful tunes. Not having a care in the world. This disease- whatever it was- was probably a good thing for the animals, and the earth. Adults could no longer pollute the earth nor damage its ecosystem.

This was a fresh start. Stan thought. If we kids could survive this, we could make the world a better place. Better than any greedy adult could. No one would be able to profit off cutting down trees, building factories that released plums of smoke, driving cars that released toxic fumes. They could create more ecofriendly alternatives. Alternatives that some adults desperately tried to push on the people, but no one listened to them. However, if they lost their fight for survival and died, then that meant the world belonged to the animals again.

Eric walked right beside Luan.

"So, I hear you're a comedian."

Luan perked up and looked at him. He smelled bad, but she tried her best to ignore it.

"How'd you know?" She asked.

"I've seen your YouTube channel. You're quite a funny gal, I especially love you're prank videos."

Luan blushed, "Pranks for noticing."

Eric laughed, revealing yellow rotting teeth.

Luan slightly shuddered at the sight of this, but managed to keep the smile on her face.

"I wish we had more people like you at the middle school. Brock's a good leader and he does have a sense of humor, but he's too serious sometimes. I guess that's what happens when you come from a military family. He's all action, always keeping himself and others in constant motion. No one really has time to joke around. I'm sure by now you've realized that he's the one who sent us out this early to go to the elementary school in hopes of finding some other survivors to come join us. But it turns out Duke seems to have a hold on things there. He was way too eager to tell us about your sister, The smart one. He really thinks she's humanity's savior. I remember hearing about her on the news sometimes. I know she's smart, but do you think she's smart enough to fix this?" Eric's face was serious by the time he finished talking.

"I sure hope so," said Luan. "I don't want to end up as food for the adults, I'll probably taste funny."

They both threw their heads back and laughed, enjoying the slight distraction from the messed-up world that surrounded them.

They sun was now completely over the horizon filling every bit of darkness with ambient light. Blood stains and signs of struggles were more noticeable now.

Lynn walked along broodily, carrying her lucky baseball bat. She was itching to use it against an adult. Maybe that would help make up for her lies of being courageous. She needed a chance to prove to herself that she wasn't scared. She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice Cooper walking right beside her.

"Yo," he said.

"What," Lynn said, with a hint of annoyance in her voice, "I'm busy."

"Busy with what?"

"Not talking to anyone," was all she could come up with.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just thought you could use someone to talk to."

"Well you thought wrong."

Cooper searched desperately for something else to say. The Loud sisters didn't know it, but Cooper had volunteered to join them on their trek to the middle school because he knew Lynn would be going. He had a crush on Lynn. He liked her competitive spirit and her vast knowledge of sports. He enjoyed playing sports with her before the world went crazy. She'd always beat him at basketball, soccer, and baseball. Which always pushed him to do better.

At the risk of annoying her further, he commented on her baseball bat.

"I see you've got a Louisville slugger, isn't that the bat that you used to play baseball with?"

Lynn sighed, clearly this dude wasn't going to let up.

"Yeah, it's my lucky baseball bat. The first one I ever hit a home run with."

"Cool," Cooper remarked. "I've never been that good at baseball, I'm more of a basketball man myself. But I've seen you play all kinds of sports. You're really good at all of them."

"Tell me something I don't know," Lynn sneered, twirling her bat.

Cooper searched again for something that would keep Lynn's attention. Then he figured out a way to get her to notice him.

"I bet I could beat you at basketball."

Lynn looked at Cooper and studied him up and down, then scoffed.

"Yeah, right."

"I'm serious."

"Okay then," Lynn smiled. "When we get back to the elementary school I'll take you on _mano a mano."_

"All right, it's a date," Cooper said.

"What?" Lynn said. Shooting him an accusing look.

Cooper fumbled over his word. "It's uh… a… uh… figure of speech."

Before Lynn could say anything, Franklin spoke up again.

"Stranger danger."

There was a group of about ten adults heading straight towards them.

Franklin crouched down and aimed his slingshot. All the other kids stood behind him and readies their weapons.

Franklin let his sling fly and a steel ball knocked the leading adult straight down.

The others quickly hurried past the downed adult. Apparently, they were smart enough to step over him.

"Reloading," he shouted.

"Allow us," said Stan, removing a twelve-inch dagger from a sheath fastened around his hip. He turned to face the Loud siblings. "Are you girls ready to show your stuff?"

Lynn gripped her baseball bat tightly. Meanwhile, Luna wielded a hatchet, she chose it because it reminded her of an axe, too bad Joey possessed the only axe in the school. Luan held a wooden tire thumper, she chose it just because she though it looked funny.

"Charge!" Stan yelled.

The kids ran straight for the adults. The grown-ups weren't even the least bit deterred and continued advancing towards them.

The grotesque features on the adults grew more and more noticeable. Their skin was a rotting green color, their eyes were yellow, and sunk back into their skulls, the scowls on their faces had created permanent creases on their foreheads.

"Me first!" Lynn yelled, casually, like she was talking about going up first to bat instead of going first to put down a crazy adult.

She swung her bat as hard as she could towards an infected middle-aged man. The adults may have been bright enough to step over a body, but they weren't smart -or fast- enough to dodge a bat.

Lynn could hear the skull crack and her entire arm slightly vibrated. She studied the adult for less than a second; her first kill. She was never going to forget this moment.

Luna was next. She'd killed infected people before, so she was sure she could do it again. A teenage girl moved towards her, she looked to be a few years older than Lori, Luna wished she'd been brave enough to put her older sisters down, but now was not the time to dread on that. Now was time for action.

She raised her hatched and split the girl's skull open. The teenager dropped to the ground and blood and brain matter began to spill from the wound on her head.

"Sick," Luna commented. She wasn't sure of she meant sick as in _gross_ or sick as in _cool_.

"You're turn, Luan," Stan said as the other sisters stepped aside.

Luan studied her weapon.

"Come on Luan, you can do it," Lynn encouraged her.

Luan shook her head. How could her sisters be so casual about killing these people? Sure, they were sick and needed to be put down. But these people used to be people. They used to have lives, hopes, dreams, and families just like all the kids that stood around her did.

"I can't," she said.

"Come on Luan," Luna said, "Just pretend it's a prank."

 _A prank?_ Luan thought. Pranks were just harmless fun. Well, maybe not that harmless when it came to April Fool's day. Luan was an entertainer she liked to bring people joy, make them laugh, not cause them harm. Even when she took pranks a bit too far, it was all in fun. She knew by the next day, everything was going to be back to normal and all would be forgiven.

"Hurry Luan!" Lynn shouted.

Luan snapped out of her inner conflict to notice a fully-grown adult hastily lumbering towards her. Luan screamed and took a step back, nearly falling over. She closed her eyes and covered her face.

There was the sound of a bat connecting with a head and then the sounds of bedlam filled her ears.

Luan slowly opened her eyes to see that her sisters and the other kids were now fighting the adults. Jay and Eric both went to town with their spiked clubs, while Jeremy and Cooper slashed away with machete's. They had the grown-ups beat in no time.

As soon as it was over Luna and Lynn went over to Luan. Luna had soft compassion in her eyes, while Lynn looked slightly annoyed, but empathetic.

"I'm sorry," she said, quietly.

Luna gently placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay. Just give it some time."

"Hold on," a voice called out.

There was a lone sick teen wondering towards them. This one didn't look as strong as the other infected grown-ups.

"Jeremy, Cooper. Grab that teen and bring her over to Luan," Stan ordered.

The two boys scurried over behind the teen, grabbed her by the arms and began to lead her towards the group.

"What are you doing?" Lynn asked. "Just put her down."

"No," said Stan. "Your sister needs to learn how to take down an adult."

Luan's blood froze. They weren't really going to force her to kill an adult, were they?

"She doesn't have to fight if she doesn't want to," Luna said.

"Yes, she does," said Stan. "You never know when the time will come where she'll need to defend you, your siblings, or anyone else. We can't have her being too scared to fight."

The three teens from the middle school stood and watched, not saying a thing as Jeremy and Cooper lead the teen until she was only a few feet away from Luan.

"Can't we deal with this later?" Lynn asked.

"No, we'll deal with this now."

Tears began to fill in Luan's eyes as she stared into the eyes of the sick teen that stood before her; she had long dark hair and seemed to be about sixteen, just like Leni.

"Take that tire thumper and swing it as hard as you can," Stan told Luan.

Luan shook her head. "Please don't make me do this," she begged.

"You don't have a choice, it's now or never."

Luan looked down at the tire thumper again, she imagined it covered with blood, the thought of bringing it down on a poor defenseless teens head shook her to her core.

"Do it," Stan's voice raised. "We've all done it, now it's your turn!"

"Take it easy," Luna rebuked.

"I'm just trying to encourage her," Stan told Luna. He turned back to Luan. "Come on, bash her brains in."

"Yeah," Jeremy began to urge. "You can do it."

Cooper looked at Luan with concerned eyes. He wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do.

The diseased teenager began to become agitated by the raised voices and started to squirm.

"Oh shit, she's stronger than she looks," said Jeremy. "Hurry up!"

Luan began to step backwards again. The teenager was staring intently at her. As if Luan looked tastier than everyone around her.

"Where do you think you're going?" Stan exclaimed. He began to make his way towards Luan when Luna and Lynn stepped in front of him.

"Get out of my way!" He demanded.

"No," Luna retorted, "I'm not going to stand and watch as you force my sister to do something that she- "

"Fuck!" Jeremy cried out as the teen broke free from his and Cooper's grasp.

Luan screamed as the teen charged towards her. She closed her eyes and swung the tire thumper as hard as she could. She felt the tip barely connect to the teen. It knocked her back ever so slightly, but the teen quickly shook off the hit and lunged at Luan.

They both went crashing to the ground. Luan struggled to keep the teen away from her. The teen continued to bite away at the air, barely missing Luan's face.

"Help, get her off me!" she cried.

Luan heard shouting and then felt the weigh shift off her and there was the sound of something chopping down on flesh.

She opened her eyes and saw everyone standing around the teen. Eric had pulled the body off Luan and Luna brought her hatchet down on the teen's head.

Luna and Lynn then helped Luan up.

"Are you okay?" Luna asked, studying her sister's body.

"Yeah," was all Luan could say.

They both hugged her.

"That's why you need to learn how to fight," Stan said.

Luna and Lynn both shot looks of rage at Stan.

"What, I'm right aren't I? She almost died because she was too scared to do anything."

Lynn began to angrily make her way towards Stan. "She almost died because of your stupid little test!"

Cooper stepped between them, arms outstretched.

"Look, it's over," He said, "we'll worry about this later. Right now, there are kids at the middle school who are in desperate need of medicine. Now, let's hurry before more adults show up."

"Fine," said Stan who then returned his gaze to Luan. "But there will come a day when you'll need to kill to defend yourself, or others."

He began to walk away with Jeremy and the others while Cooper and Lynn stood next to each other.

Luna still stood next to Luan with an arm wrapped around her shoulder.

Luan sniffed and wiped tears from her eyes. She apologized again.

Luna slightly tightened her grip on Luan's shoulder and kissed her on the side of her forehead.

"It's okay, we're almost to the middle school. The first part of our journey will be over soon."

Luan nodded and they both walked up to Lynn and continued down the road.

 **6\. Socializing**

The sun shone into the gym, prompting all the kids in the elementary to get up. Meanwhile, Lincoln continued to sit with his younger sisters. They hadn't moved from their spot since their sisters left earlier.

Clyde had joined them. He asked Lincoln how he was doing. Which Clyde thought was a silly question. He knew his best friend had to be worried sick about his sisters. He'd tried his best to cheer Lincoln and his sisters up, but their minds were clouded with horrible thoughts of their sisters being attacked by adults.

A few minutes later, a fifteen-year-old walked up to them with his eyes fixed on Lana.

"Hey Lana, ready to get back to work?"

They all looked up to see a brown-haired boy smiling down at them. He was wearing overalls just like Lana.

"Oh, hey Marco," Lana greeted. "I'm not sure if I'm in the mood today."

Marco frowned. "Oh, is this because of this morning? Look, your sisters are going to be fine, I heard they went off with kids from the middle school. Jay, Eric, and Franklin. I know them, they're tough fellas, trust me, your sisters are in good hands."

"Really?" Lana asked, her voice filling with hope.

"I'd bet my life on it."

Lana smiled, "Okay," she said, and looked up at Lincoln

Lincoln smiled at her. "It's okay, go on ahead."

Lana then looked at her twin. She still looked upset about her sisters, and as much as she hated to leave her; she knew the other kids needed her more. She hugged her twin then wandered off with Marco, leaving Lincoln with Lucy, Lola, and Lily.

Next a pretty blonde girl walked up to them.

"Hi, Lincoln," she said in a soft soothing voice.

They all looked up to see Sarah, a fifteen-year-old who used to be into fashion before the blast, just like Leni.

"Hey, Sarah," he said.

Sarah looked down at Lola, smiling. "How's our little princess doing today?" she asked, leaning slightly forward with her hands resting on her knees.

Lola looked down and didn't say anything. It was rare whenever Lola was quiet. Before the adults went mad she'd always go on and on about her pageant career and other hobbies. As well as sharing all kinds of gossip that was happening throughout the town of Royal Woods. Now she was a shell of her former self. The events of the last few weeks seemed to have affected her more than anyone else. Sure, she did help prepare food in the cafeteria and she still loved to sew together pillows and blankets for her siblings to sleep with, but after her older sister's departure this morning, she was too worried about them to focus on anything.

Lincoln really wanted Lola to go and have fun. to do things that she enjoyed doing, like her sister Lana was doing. He didn't want her to stay cooped up in the gym.

Before Sarah could say anything about Lola's silence, Lincoln spoke up.

"Uh-oh, Lola. It looks like your hair is a little tangled."

"What!" Lola immediately lifted her head up.

Ever since Luna made everyone cut their hair, Lola had been self-conscious about her hair, making an extra effort to keep it as beautiful and elegant as possible.

"It also looks like you've got some dark spots under your eyes,"

Lola yelped and stood up.

She ordered Sarah to take her to the bathroom and help fix her appearance. She could've asked Lincoln to help her since he's sometimes applied her make-up whenever she was about to compete in a pageant, but Sarah's skill set with make-up was far beyond Lincoln's

Lincoln smiled as he watched them hurry out of the gym. He'd hated having to point out Lola's slight blemishes, but he knew they could be fixed in no time and then Lola would go back to looking like her beautiful self. That would give her the confidence to continue playing with the other children, a lot of them looked up to her as their queen. He remembered the time he dragged his younger siblings to the mall to get Rip Hardcore's autograph and she'd went off to a princess-themed store and managed to get other kids to treat her like a queen and do her bidding. Lincoln hoped she wouldn't take it too far again this time.

Now that just left Lucy. She was still holding Charles who rested on her lap.

"Is there anything you want to go do?" Lincoln asked her.

Lucy sighed.

Lincoln couldn't tell what her facial expression was saying. Her hair may have been shortened be she insisted that Luna leaver her bangs alone when she cut her hair.

"Do you want to go crawl around in the vents, maybe work on some poems?"

Lucy didn't say anything.

"Do you want to go in the auditorium? I hear it's haunted. There might be ghosts you can talk to."

No response.

Lincoln didn't blame her for not wanting to go there, that is where Duke and Joey spent all their time and she definitely resented them for making her older sisters go out.

"Do you want to go upstairs and look out the windows? You might see some dead bodies?"

Still no response.

Lincoln couldn't believe what he'd just said, seeing some dead bodies might worry Lucy more than she already was. Plus, asking someone if they wanted to look at dead bodies sounded very sick and twisted, even if it was Lucy.

That's when Lincoln decided to bring up other interests. He noticed a girl around Lucy's age reading _Princess Pony_. Lincoln knew that Lucy secretly liked books like those. But her other sisters didn't know. But at this point what did it matter if she did.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Lincoln asked, pointing to the girl. She seemed to give off a cheerful vibe, completely opposite of the vibe Lucy gave off. "I'm sure she'll let you read one of her books."

Lucy looked in the girl's direction but still didn't say anything.

Lincoln was out of ideas. That's when they were hit with the smell of poop. They both looked at Lily.

A new idea popped into Lincoln's head.

"We'll, I guess if you don't want to do anything you can at least help me change Lily's diaper." Lincoln said.

Lucy seemed hesitant. "On second thought, maybe I will go talk to Grace." Lucy said, turning to face the girl again.

"Grace?" said Lincoln. "Is that her name?"

"Yep," Lucy answered. "She was in my class before…" Lucy stopped herself. Then she got up and went over to the girl.

Lincoln watched as Lucy appeared to talk to the girl. The girl smiled and handed Lucy one of her books and Lucy sat right next to her with her head buried in a book that had the picture of a pony on it.

Lincoln smiled. Then Lily began to cry.

"Oh, right." Lincoln said to himself. He walked up to Lily's crib. "Let's get you taken care of."

Once Lincoln was finished changing her diaper he gave Lily some baby milk. Luckily Lisa had found a way to make milk last longer. Plus, there was a farm nearby where a family of kids lived. It was well fortified, and the animals were well taken care of. That's where they'd managed to get some milk and other assortments of food.

Once Lincoln was finished with Lily's diaper he asked Clyde to keep an eye on her while he took the loaded diaper to the roof.

Once he reached the roof he put the diaper in an oil drum that was constantly burning. It was how they took care of Lily's diapers.

There were a few kids tending to the garden on the roof, while others were keeping watch.

Lincoln walked up to the edge of the roof and looked over the town of Royal Woods again as he had when he and his sisters first arrived to the school. There wasn't a single adult in sight. Lincoln prayed it would stay that way.

"There's a desolate beauty to this sight isn't there?" A voice said to Lincoln.

Lincoln looked and saw another eleven-year-old standing next to him. He recognized the boy as one of classmates from before the blast. Cornelius Tucker, but everyone called him Tucker because he hated the name Cornelius. Lincoln didn't blame him. He probably hated his parents for naming him that. Lincoln had heard others joke around by saying he was probably glad his parents were dead. But there was no way that was true. Everyone wished their parents were still alive. They all wanted everything to go back to normal. They wanted to go back to living their lives, but that would never happen. Their parents were dead and they all had to accept that.

"I guess so." Lincoln responded. Remembering that Tucker was there in the front hall when they first arrived at the school. Although he didn't say anything. He just stayed behind while Stan walked them to the auditorium.

Tucker continued to talk, "I've been coming up here every morning to watch the sunrise and look at the world that used to be. I keep hoping I'll see the world turn back to normal. That one day I'll look out into the dawn and see people living their lives as they had before the world went to hell. But I know I'm wasting my time. It's never going to happen anytime soon. All I can do now is try to be optimistic and hope that one day we'll beat this thing, that we'll overcome adversity and I can look off this roof and see the new, better world. A world free of fear, hatred, and conflict. One where everyone can get along."

"I hope so too," Lincoln agreed. Then his mind shifted to his older sisters. "I also hope my sisters are doing okay."

Tucker looked at him and smiled.

"That's one thing we have that these adults don't. _Hope._ As far as I know, the only thing those adults have is the desire to eat us. While we have the desire to survive and overcome them. The only question is whose desire is stronger. Our desire to beat them or their desire to consume us.

Lincoln thought about that for a second.

"And speaking of hope," Tucker continued. "Everyone knows Hope is useless without action. So, if I want to see the world change I'll have to do it myself, but the good thing about action is: sometimes you don't have to do it alone. I heard that some teens from the middle school showed up. It sure would be great if there's as many of them as there are of us. We can join forces. It's up to us to work together to beat these things. So, as long as your sisters and the kids from the middle school work together and have the will to beat these things; they should be fine."

Lincoln wasn't expecting to hear a speech when he got to the roof. It felt a bit forced. But he was glad he heard it. Tucker's use of the word "action" prompted him to speak some more.

"You know, I've always been known as the man with a plan. I'd solve so many problems that my family had. I'd help my older sister Leni study to get her driver's license and be a model while she worked on her fashion designs. I'd help Lola get prepared for her beauty pageants. I'd help Lana out with her animals, like when me and her tried to rescue frogs from being dissected at school. I'd help Luan with her comedy routines. I'd help Lisa with her science experiments- although most of the time I was an unwilling participant. I'd help Lucy come up with words for her poems. I'd help Lynn get prepared for her competitions. I'd help Luna with her music career. We'd play instruments together, and I really enjoyed going to concerts with her. I'd help Lily if she had a boo-boo or needed a diaper changed. And as for Lori, sometimes I'd help her with her situations. Like how one time I accidentally caused the power in the house to go out and she was too afraid to go down to the basement by herself so we all went down with her. There was also a time where she tried to throw a sophisticated party which ended up completely boring her guests to the point where they all left. Luckily me and my sisters were able to bring some life into the party which attracted all the guests back. And one time when she worked at _Gus' Games and Grub_ I kept asking her for things such as food and tokens, so I could give them to Chandler in the hopes of getting an invitation to his birthday party, which I did. But unfortunately, her boss found out that she's been giving away free stuff and made her work overtime to pay off what she owed, which meant she wouldn't be able to go to a school dance that she was really looking forward to. So, I decided to do her work for her, so she could go to her dance, which meant I had to miss Chandler's party.

"I didn't get an invitation to that party," Tucker said, bitterly. "Chandler's a jerk."

"I can't argue with that," Lincoln laughed, before going on about his sister again. "There was also this time when I accidentally badmouthed Ronnie-Anne when I didn't know she was standing behind me, which hurt her feelings. So, she told her older bother Bobby, and he ended up breaking up with Lori. Luckily we were able to arrange a double date where I was able to apologize to her and all was forgiven."

"You two made a cute couple," Tucker said.

"Yeah," Lincoln agreed. "I really miss her, I hope she's okay too."

"She's a tough girl, I'm sure she's fine."

Lincoln began to think of all the times his sisters helped him. He told Tucker about how his sisters were very overprotective, and about the time they got kicked out the grocery store which meant Lincoln couldn't get his zombie-bran, they felt bad for doing that and went out and bought him some. And when they'd let him swim in their pool after he kicked them out of his, and the best thing they'd ever done for him was when they convinced the band _Smooch_ to give him a little private concert.

Tucker told him it was nice that they all cared so much about each other.

Lincoln continued to think of all the good times he had in the Loud house which caused him to think of times he'd caused conflict.

"Sometimes, I'd also cause problems. Like the time I videotaped and posted my sister's most private moments on the internet, just to win a trophy to put on my shelf of the family's trophy case."

Tucker nodded. "I remember that."

"But once I realized that I'd screwed up, I immediately made it right by posting a video of my own private moments. Which were way worse."

"My favorite was the one where you kissed that bust you imagined was Cristina." Tucker commented.

Lincoln responded with a chuckle and continued talking.

"Another funny situation is when we had this car that me and my siblings called _Vanzilla_ , it was a complete hunk of junk, it was a miracle it lasted as long as it did. Anyway, there was this one seat that I called "The Sweet Spot." Because it wasn't sticky, soggy, or springy, and it wasn't too close to where my parents sat or too far back to where my siblings would misbehave. So, one night before a family road-trip, I tried to snag it for myself. And when my sisters found out we fought to the death for it and ended up destroying Vanzilla.

Tucker laughed.

"It gets worse," Lincoln continued. "A lot of times my sisters would argue, which is normal. But one time my two oldest sisters: Lori and Leni, both bought an identical dress. This argument was worse than any argument the Loud house had ever witnessed. My sisters had to keep them separated so they could both cool off. In doing so, they wouldn't let me go in the kitchen, or the bathroom. They wouldn't even let me watch T.V. all because of some stupid argument. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and ended up saying some things that I shouldn't have said. Which just made things worse. We had to end up dining with them both separately, so they wouldn't think we were taking sides. And when they took my blankets and bed sheets to divide up their room. This only made me angrier. So, I suggested that Leni sleeps in Luna and Luan's room while Luna slept in Lori and Leni's room. I really hoped that everything would be back to normal in the morning. But, as I'm sure you've guessed, things only got worse from there. Lori and Leni both told Luna and Luan their own versions of what happened which now caused them to argue as well. So, when all my other sisters tried to keep them separated it lead to even more arguments. At that point I decided to bail on over to Clyde's house. Luckily by the next morning everything was back to normal. It turns out, if I'd just minded my own business and let my sister handle it, everything would've turned out fine sooner. But then I accidentally opened my big mouth again and caused my sisters to fight again."

Tucker's face was priceless. "Wow, what a terrible episode that must've been," he said. "It makes me glad I'm an only child."

"Well, my sisters can be a pain in the butt most of the time, but I love them. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Tucker's facial expression changed to a look of sorrow. "Lori and Leni… weren't they over the age of fifteen?"

A wave of sadness washed over Lincoln's face. "Yes," he simply said. Imagining them as one of these diseased freaks. He wished Luna could've at least put Leni out of her misery, but he didn't say anything before because he was sure Luna already felt bad enough.

"I'm sorry," Tucker said.

"It's okay," Lincoln lied. Wishing more than anything that Lori and Leni were standing on this roof next to him. "What matters the most right now are my sister's who are still alive, I'd do anything to protect them." Lincoln then told Tucker about how he'd saved his younger sisters at the beginning of the outbreak.

Tucker's eyes widened. "Wow, all I did was hide in a storage closet until Duke and his boys showed up. But you, you went out into the world and lead your sisters back home. You're a hero Lincoln. A very underappreciated, underrated hero."

Lincoln smiled. He was no hero. He was just a kid. A kid trying to survive. A kid with ten sisters, two of who were dead. "Well, it was good seeing you Tucker. I'm gonna go back to the gym now."

Tucker said goodbye as Lincoln walked back into the school and then looked off into the streets. He imagined a mother and a father walking on the sidewalk with their baby in a stroller. They looked up at him and waved. Tucker wanted nothing more than to wave back at them.

"Someday." He told himself. "Someday."

 **7\. Taunting**

Lana walked with Marco down the hall of the second floor. She peered out a window that still had glass, apparently not all windows were damaged by the blast. Probably because the glass was thicker. She thought she could see some adults running around down below, but quickly decided she was just imagining things. They reached the bathroom they were set to work on.

"This has some toilets that need worked on," Marco said. He told her what needed to be done.

"On it." Lana reached for her toolbelt and she and Marco went to work.

That' when the sound of something tapping on the window outside the bathroom caught Lana's attention. It sounded like someone was throwing small pebbles against it. She turned to Marco who had all his attention on fixing a toilet. She decided not to bother him and went over and looked out the window by herself. What she saw almost made her sick. _Her._ Lana Loud. A girl who played in mud, ate worms, and was always getting dirty working with plumbing and repairing cars.

There. Down below with a few other adults, stood Grease Monkey. His tall figure, dark coveralls, and long greasy oil-colored hair made him easy to recognize. Lana's heart sank when she saw what he was holding in each of his hands: In one hand, he held her dead pet frog _Hops_ , and in the other, was her dead lizard _Izzy_ with his head still missing.

Greasy Monkey smiled when he saw Lana. He held up the two dead pets and then brought Izzy to his mouth and bit down ripping another chunk from the lizard.

Lana began to wail and bang her fist on the window.

Marco quickly rushed over and looked out the window. He swore and then put himself between Lana and the window and began to guide her away.

 **8\. Reaching the middle school**

The group was relieved to see the middle school come into view. By some miracle they hadn't encountered any other adults. The middle school seemed to well-fortified, with large pieces of lumber blocking the broken windows. They could also see kids standing on the roof, watching them carefully. The elementary school group was kind of nervous. They didn't know what it was going to be like in the middle school. But at the same time, they were glad to be there. It had been quite awkward after Stan had snapped at Luan. Her sisters walked close to her side and were able to cheer her up. Although they were still shocked at how intense Stan had gotten. He seemed so nice when they first met him.

Once they made it to the front doors Jay knocked in a pattern. It was probably a secret code or something.

The door opened, and Jay led them all inside.

The front hall looked like the elementary school's. Candles were used to light the room and some teens were wondering the halls. Some of them stopped to study the newcomers and then continued walking. Apparently, they were too busy to say "Hello."

"Where's Brock?" Jay asked the kid who'd let them in.

He was a tall fifteen-year-old with long dark hair who looked like a skateboarder. He wore a red T-shirt over a white sweatshirt and tan cargo pants. Luna knew his name was Owen.

"He's in the gym. Were you able to find anything?" He asked, and then acknowledged the unfamiliar faces. "Besides them?"

"Boy, did we." Jay said, enthusiastically as he looked back at the elementary school group.

"Come on, let's go talk to Brock. I'm sure he'll be very excited to find out that we're not the only group of kids in Royal Woods.

 **9\. Christopher Savinski IV**

Chris bit down on a fried arm of a kid. He closed his eyes and savored every chew. In front of him lay a huge pile of about thirty dead kids. All of them had been hunted down by other adults. It was heaven on earth for him to be able to eat kids without anyone judging him. The only downside was that he had to share the spoils with other adults who were getting weak from not eating kids.

A fellow adult walked up to Chris. _We've… scoured every inch of this neighborhood…no more kids._

"Very well." Chris spoke with his mouth full and then swallowed. "As soon as we've eaten these kids, we'll continue on to the next town. I'm sure there are some kids hiding out there."

 _Okay._ Every adult answered at one.

Chris then turned to Crony who sat right beside him.

"Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask. Is there any way to cure you guys?"

Crony smiled his creepy smile yet again.

 _No._ He answered.

"Great," said Chris as he took another bite into the dead kid.

Then a thought crossed his mind.

"What happens if we eat all the kids?"

 _We can make sure that doesn't happen. All we need to do is use kids as cattle._

 _Damn._ Thought Chris. Then he smiled. He'd eaten kids, but it never crossed his mind to have sex with one. Oh well. It was always good to try new things.

* * *

 _Thanks for the 1K views everyone. I'm going to try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible. I haven't started on it yet so it might be some time, but not too much time. I really hope you guys are enjoying the story. My goal is for the story to have as big as an affect on you as The Enemy series had on me.  
_

 _Anyway, I hope you guys have an awesome year._


	5. Order and Chaos

**The Dread**

 **Chapter 2: Order and Chaos  
**

 **1\. Speck II**

Speck.

That is what Dominic decided he would call himself from now on. What did it matter what his name was anymore?

What did anything from his past matter?

The only thing that mattered was the group of grown-ups converging on the street in front of the shop. There had to be at least fifty of them. They all seemed to answer to a heavily-built adult who appeared to be over seven feet tall. He had sandy blond hair that went down to his shoulders. And a very serious look on his pale, green, slightly rotted face that looked like it had never ever smiled before. He also wielded a sledgehammer that was still stained with blood from when he used it earlier. Apparently, whenever an adult found a dead kid's body they brought it to him he'd nod, and they'd set the body in a pile in the middle of the street. However, one adult who Speck recognized as a gas station owner named _Flip,_ tried to keep parts of a body for himself to eat. And when the other adults found out they dragged the reluctant clerk up to the towering adult who ended up spraying his head and brain matter all over the street with one ferocious swing of his sledgehammer.

Speck watched them through binoculars, waiting for them to move. But it didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon. He wanted nothing more than to grab a gun from down below and mow them all down. But he was afraid the gunshots would attract even more adults which would prevent him from ever escaping from his dad's hunting shop. He went back down into the shop to where his dad was still restrained.

"Looks like we've got company outside, dad." He joked.

Speck didn't know it, but his dad could sense the other adults out there just as they could sense him in the building. He could call out telepathically to the other adults anytime he wanted to. The only problem was, they didn't want to waste their time trying to break into a shop where only one fellow adult resided. However, if he told them that there was a kid in here they would be on this shop like ants on a dropped piece of finger food. But there was no way he was going to do that. He wanted this kid to himself. He hated him for pinning him down and tying him to a pipe on the wall. He wanted revenge. He wanted nothing more than to kill him and feast on his corpse.

 **2\. The Middle School**

The gym in the middle school was like the layout of the gym in the elementary school. There were gym mats used as beds, kids were spread out throughout the room, the younger ones were reading and playing games. While older a few older kids loitered around the bleachers the Loud sisters were sure some of the kids recognized them, but no one said anything. Everyone sat still as the newcomers entered the gym. It felt just like when they entered the gym at the elementary school. Brock sat on the bleachers talking with another kid who was writing things down on a piece of paper.

"Looks like it's a slow day," said Jay.

Brock looked up and smiled. "We've already fortified the place, I was just talking to Jacob. We're making a list of some other things that we need to be on the lookout for when scavenging. Were you three able to find anything?"

"Yeah, we got some medicine," said Eric holding up his backpack. "The elementary school kids had some medicine to spare."

 _Spare?_ Brock thought to himself. He knew medicine was rare, who would have some to spare. Also, _elementary school kids?_

That's when he noticed the new kids walking behind the members of his group. He recognized Stan, Jeremy, Luna, and Luan. But he didn't know Lynn or Cooper.

They all said hello to each other and Stan told them that they'd come from the elementary school.

"I'm glad we're not the only group in Royal Woods," said Brock. Then he turned to Jay. "You three did good finding them."

Then he turned around and looked at everyone in the gym.

"These kids say they are from the elementary school. They have managed to spare a valuable resource with us." Eric handed him the pack and he held it up. "Medicine."

Several kids applauded and cheered.

The newcomers looked around and studied the crown with feeble smiles on their faces.

Luna's eyes slowly spread across the crowd and that's when she saw her.

Sam.

Luna was so happy to see that she was alive an unharmed. At the same time, she tried not to make it obvious that she had her gaze fixed on her for a second.

Luan also watched the crowd for familiar faces. She didn't see anyone she was friends with. The only group of kids that were starring directly at her was some goth kids in the corner of the room. One girl with pale skin and ink black hair especially had her eyes set on Luan. It made Luan slightly uncomfortable, but she ignored them.

Lynn's smile was bigger than everyone else's she waved at the crowd basking in the glory. She knew it was Lisa who they should be cheering for, but she was happy to accept the applause on her behalf.

Brock continued, "See what happens when we work together. There'll be nothing that we won't be able to accomplish." He turned to a kid standing next to him and handed him the bag. "Take this to the medical bay. I'm sure Eve will know what to do with it."

As soon as the applause stopped. Some kids walked up to them to ask them about the elementary school: What was it like. How many kids were there. Some even asked about family and friends

The group tried their best to answer the questions. Then Brock told them that they'd worry about these questions some other time. And the middle school kids went back to what they were doing.

"I can't thank you guys enough," said Brock. "Allow me to give you a tour of the school and some parting gifts."

"Actually," said Lynn, "I'm tired so I'd like to get back to- "

"We'd love a tour." Stan interrupted, then he looked at Lynn and gave her a look of irritation.

Lynn returned his look and then looked at her sisters.

"I don't mind a tour," said Luna.

Luan agreed.

Lynn sighed and unenthusiastically walked with her group out of the gym.

 **3.**

Lincoln returned to the gym to see Clyde playing with Lily. Lily was smiling and giggling. She hadn't a care in the world. Mostly because she had no idea what was going on in the world. Once Lincoln made it back to them. Someone else made their way towards him.

"L-dog." A squeaky, high-pitched voice called out.

Lincoln looked to see Rusty approaching him.

"Oh, hey Rusty. What's up?"

"The ceiling," he responded, "But seriously, do you and Clyde wanna go play a board game with me, and the gang." He turned his head back and pointed to a group of kids who were setting up a game on a table.

Lincoln looked and saw his friend Zachary, a fair-haired kid named Andy, and Chandler.

He then turned to Clyde who nodded his head.

"I'm down."

"All right then," Lincoln said. "Let's go."

Lincoln asked Trinity to watch Lily for him. She was happy to oblige. She loved kids and kids loved her.

"Hey guys, Lincoln and Clyde are going to join us. Is that okay?" Rusty asked the group.

They greeted them, but glared at Lincoln slightly.

"Don't worry, I'm not as good as Lynn." Lincoln assured them.

They eased their gazes.

"Well in that case, the more the merrier." said Andy, cheerfully, as he gestured towards some open seats.

"So, what game are you playing?" Clyde asked.

" _Pardon._ " said Andy.

"I said, what game are we- "

"No, the game is called _Pardon._ " Andy restated.

"Oh."

Lincoln and Clyde sat down. Lincoln looked over to Chandler who returned his gaze and nodded his head.

Lincoln returned the gesture. He wondered where Chandler's friends were before deciding even his so-called _friends_ , needed a break from his crap.

"Choose you pieces." said Andy, and everyone grabbed a piece.

Lincoln decided on the orange piece.

Andy explained the rules and they all began.

"Me first," said Chandler. Before anyone could say anything, he rolled the die and moved his piece, instantly landing on a _lose a turn_ space.

"Shit. Lost a turn on my first roll."

"Whoa man," Clyde gasped. "You have to watch your language."

"Or what?" Chandler retorted. "Are you gonna wash my mouth out with soap? Send me to my room? Give me a spanking?"

Andy laughed.

Rusty and Zachary looked at each other and smiled sheepishly.

Lincoln glared at Chandler. He never liked him, but he was willing to put aside his resentment for the sake of avoiding pointless drama. However, he didn't like him swearing. Especially with little kids around. He remembered earlier in the morning when someone swore as soon as his older sisters and Joey left the room. He was too worried about his sisters to care about that at that moment. But that was then, and this was now.

"He's right." Lincoln said. "You shouldn't swear."

"Oh please," Chandler groaned. "That's an old rule from before the world went to shit. I mean, I miss my parent and all, but you've got to admit, the fact that there are no more adults means we can say any fucking word we want."

No one could come up with an argument. In a way Chandler was right; Who gave a damn about swear words at this point. Sure, there were some teens in the school who still scolded kids for swearing. But it didn't really matter in the long run did it?

Eventually it was Lincoln's turn. He rolled the die and moved his orange piece.

"I'm guessing orange is your favorite color?" Andy said. "After all, you are always wearing an orange shirt."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Lincoln answered, thinking about how all his life, he always wore orange clothes. It was his color scheme. He wore orange just like his sister wore clothes with the same colors as well.

"I would've guessed your favorite color was white," Chandler said, with a grin, "because of your white hair."

Lincoln turned to Chandler and gave him a tired look.

"I mean, what gives with it anyway? All your sisters have either Blonde or Brunette hair, and here you are with hair as white as Christmas."

Before Lincoln could respond, Andy spoke up.

"I talked with Sanjay about it. He thinks you could either be an albino or have _Neurofibromatosis_."

They all looked at Andy with blank expressions.

"What?" Lincoln said.

"Neurofibromatosis," Andy repeated without any trouble at all. "It's when you got tumors in your body. Or in your case, they could be in your brain.

"Oh shit, that sure would suck." Chandler laughed.

"Yeah it would," Lincoln agreed. "But, if you must know I get this white hair from my grandpa." Lincoln felt sad as soon as he mentioned Pop-pop. Everyone in his family loved and adored the old man, but he was probably endlessly roaming the earth just like every other adult.

"Let's hope so," said Andy.

While everyone else took turns, Lincoln kept glancing towards where Lucy sat with Grace, they seemed to be having a pleasant chat, and then to where Lily sat nice and comfy under the watchful eye of Trinity. He smiled. He wished his other sisters could be as relaxed as they were right now. He wondered if it was fair that he got to sit around and play games while Lana, Lola, and Lisa worked? And while his older sisters were out risking their lives?

"You're turn, Lincoln," said Clyde.

Lincoln turned back to the board.

"Oh, sorry."

The others seemed to notice that he was looking at his sisters.

"I have a question for you Lincoln," said Andy.

"What's up?"

"Was Lucy always like that?"

Andy didn't need to elaborate. Lincoln knew exactly what he was asking about: her dark hair and pale skin.

"Yeah. As far as a I can remember she was always into spooky stuff and always seemed to have a gloomy attitude too."

"Did she dye her hair black?" Andy asked.

"No, she was born with it."

"Ooh, how appropriate." Andy laughed. "It's funny how all of your sisters seem to have completely different personalities. I don't know how you lived with them all these years."

"You learnt to adapt," Lincoln joked.

"Now I have a question," said Chandler, with a smirk on his face.

Lincoln turned to him with wary eyes. "What?"

"Your sisters...have they…. have their periods ever synced up?" He was howling with laughter as soon as he finished the question.

Lincoln really wanted to punch Chandler.

"I've always wondered that too," said Andy.

"I don't know?" said Lincoln, trying to keep calm. "In a house as big as mine, it's hard to notice."

Chandler stopped laughing. He didn't seem satisfied with Lincolns answer. Then another smirk formed on his face.

"Have you ever seen any of them naked?"

"Dude." Said Andy.

"Shut up!" Lincolns voice was raised. Some of the kids lingering around the table looked at him.

"Sheesh, sorry," said Chandler.

Lincoln turned his gaze back to the table. He was completely lost in thought. He wanted nothing more than his sisters to be standing next to him. He really wished he could hug Lori and Leni one last time.

"Lincoln," Andy's voice broke Lincoln out of his thoughts.

"Oh, sorry," he said, reaching for the die.

"Not that," Andy told Lincoln.

"What is it, then?"

What I wanted to say is that being the only boy in a family with ten girls, you must've been the one they all looked to for answers? Besides your parents and eldest sister.

Lincoln thought about the most common phrases he'd heard throughout his life: _Lincoln do this. Lincoln do that. Lincoln, I need your help with… Lincoln can you watch my…,_

"Yes, they did," Lincoln answered. "I was happy to help…most of the time." Lincoln then told them about his and his sister's adventures. A lot of them were wild. Some of them were familiar because a lot of the time tales of the Loud House would spread all throughout the school.

"Wow, you could write an entire book about all your exploits," Andy said.

"Yeah, I could," Lincoln agreed. "It was quite a chaotic life, but I'd take it over _this_ life any day. I'm sure you guys feel the same way. Like, if you could wake up tomorrow in your own beds and for everything to be back to normal you'd take it in a heartbeat."

"You're a saint, Lincoln," Andy said. "Putting up with your sister's day in and day out. If things ever get back to normal, I'm going to convince everyone to elect you to be the new Pope.

"Thanks," Lincoln said, with a smile.

* * *

Lucy had barely read five pages of the book. She was too focused on her sisters. She wished they'd walk through the gym door right then and there. Even it meant they'd see her reading a _Princess Pony_ book. She sighed. No other eight-year-old in the school was like her. She missed her friend _Haiku._ She hadn't seen her since the beginning, and she doubted she could survive out there that long.

"So which pony is your favorite?"

Lucy looked to see Grace looking at her, smiling. The sunlight pouring through the window made her face beam.

Lucy slightly panicked and said the first one that came to mind. "Uh, _Pinky_."

"Ooooh. I liker her too, but I'd say _Shadow_ is my favorite," said Grace. "I think she's cool, and I love her dark attitude."

Lucy was surprised that a girl as sweet and innocent as Grace would pick _Shadow_ as her favorite. But then again, some people would find it surprising that a girl like her would enjoy reading _Princess Pony._

"I like your hair, by the way," Grace said. "Did you dye it?"

Lucy told Grace that she was born with it. Like fate had chose her to be a dark, scary, gloomy, girl. She also told her that she probably got it from her great grandma _Harriet,_ who also had dark hair.

"Cool," said Grace. "I always thought you were spooky, my friends would say you would go off in the vents and look for ghosts. They also said you could see and talk to ghosts, but I can see now you're just a misunderstood kid."

A wicked grin formed on Lucy's face "Well they're right about one thing. I do enjoy ghost hunting. Sometimes I would go into the basement of the school to look for a ghost janitor."

Grace set her book down. "Really?"

Lucy nodded.

Grace sat silently for a few seconds before asking Lucy something. "Do you think you could take me down to the basement to look for this ghost janitor?"

Lucy kicked around the idea of going into the dark scary basement. Then she realized that she loved dark and scary places. Why did she have to think about it?

Lucy stood up. "Okay then, let's go do some exploring."

She told Lincoln that she was taking Grace to the bathroom. Lincoln told them to be quick and careful and off the two girls went.

* * *

Lola sat with Sarah in the home economics room. Stitching away at a pillow. Creating a floral pattern in the fabrics. Next to her sat Sarah, with a few other kids sitting around at different tables, focused on their own creations. However, some of the younger kids shot quick glances towards Lola. A lot of the kids were drawn by her beauty, they wondered how she managed to stay so pretty. In the brief time since she'd been at the school she'd managed to get some kids to treat her as a queen. She was a master wordsmith, she'd convinced them to fall in line behind her and could get them to do what she wanted. She was pleased with their behavior towards her, but at the same time she wondered if they did it because they wanted to, or because pretending to be servants allowed them to forget about the monsters outside.

"That's very pretty," Sarah complemented.

"Thanks," Lola said, admiring her work. She wondered if Lana could create something this beautiful. She remembered the time at Camp Blue Bell when they had to make a sit-upon; Lola succeeded while Lana failed, claiming that her butt made a fine sit-upon.

In the last week everyone had looked to Lana for help with plumbing and fixing up the school bus. They all admired her for being to complete such huge tasks at only six-years-old. Sure, a lot of them were impressed with Lola's ability to cook and sew, but when she was in the cafeteria she usually followed Patrick's lead. Patrick was the head chef. His family used to own a restaurant that was quite famous in the town of Royal Woods, and since he sometimes helped out there. He felt that he was better than Lola and every other kid in the kitchen. It wasn't like when Lana worked with Marco with the plumbing or when she helped with Carl on the bus at all. They both respected her. They knew that without her, they wouldn't be able to get much done. Lola really wished others would show her some respect for her skills instead of respecting her as a queen. She wasn't a queen. She was just a kid. A spoiled, bratty, six-year-old who treated her siblings terribly sometimes. But that was just it, she was only six. She always thought she'd have her whole life to change her attitude. Now, she had to use what little time she probably had left to be nice to her siblings who were still alive. She wished Lori and Leni were still alive, so she could apologize to them for all the things she'd ever done to them. And hug them. She wanted Lori to wrap her arms around her and protect her. Lola secretly admired Lori, she was demanding- which Lola thought was empowering. She was also into a lot of girly things just like Lola, but she was still tough, strong, and fierce. Lola imagined her knocking out an adult just by hitting it with her cold, hard, intimidating stare. But, unfortunately Lori was gone, just like all the other adults. Lola wondered how long the kids could keep up in this messed up world.

 **4\. The middle school II**

The middle school was well organized and secure. There were teens patrolling the candle-lit halls and others had reinforced some of the windows with steel bars. There were also vegetables being planted in the courtyard, and kids were preparing food in the cafeteria.

Brock let them sit and have a quick meal.

"I can't believe you accomplished all of this so fast," said Stan.

"Well, when you grow up in a military family you know how to be organized and plan ahead," said Brock.

"I'm guessing most of your family was in the United States Army?" Stan asked.

"Yes, it's pretty much a tradition, my ancestors came here in the 1700's and fought in the American Revolution."

"Cool."

Stan and Jeremy looked completely enthralled with Brock's stories. Luna and Luan were slightly interested; however, they were more interested in Brock himself. He wasn't really what they considered to be _their type._ But, that didn't mean they didn't find him attractive. They really wished they'd ended up here with him instead of at the elementary school with Duke. Luna wasn't sure she'd be able to drag her siblings away from the elementary school to come here because that meant they'd have to brave the streets.

Lynn wasn't interested in Brock at all. All she cared about was getting back to her sisters. She didn't even care that Cooper kept glancing at her and smiling.

After they were done eating, Brock led them to a room that was well stashed with supplies and weapons.

"For your contribution of medical supplies. I'll give you food and weapons in return."

"Awesome," Stan cheered.

They wandered into the room admiring all the food and melee weapons.

"We got the food from a grocery store across the way. We were able to fill a small delivery truck with non-perishables and water. And as for the weapons we snatched them from a nearby flea market. I knew a guy who had a space where he'd sell all kinds of random weapons such as: knives, swords, spears, axes, hammers, clubs, and maces. So that was the first booth I went too. Luckily it was well stacked, since we were the only one's brave enough to go out and explore."

"Were you able to find any firearms?" Stan asked.

Brock sucked air through his teeth. "Unfortunately, no. we tried that one hunting shop nearby. _Garders Guns,_ but the shop was completely locked up, gutters down and everything."

"Damn."

"Well anyway, I'll let you all take what you can carry. And then you can all be on your way."

 **5\. Lucy and Grace.**

Lucy and Grace crept down the hall and past a teen who sat on the floor sleeping instead of standing watch. Eventually they reached a door that lead to a basement. It was a storage basement. It was wrapped in chains and locked with a padlock

Lucy asked Grace for one of her hairpins. Lucy knew how to unlock a lock. After all, sometimes she's break into cemeteries after dark. The padlock clicked, and the chains fell. Lucy loved the sound chains made when they rattled. It was a creepy, ghoulish sound that filled Lucy with a sense of torment.

"Spooky," Grace commented.

"Just wait until we open the door," Lucy said, with a hint of anticipation in her voice. She reached in her pockets. In one was a screwdriver and in the other, was a flashlight.

She opened the door and they were greeted with utter darkness. Grace stepped closer to Lucy while she took out her flashlight and flipped it on.

"Ready?" Lucy asked.

Grace nodded, and they crept down the creaky metal stairs.

 **6\. The Middle School III**

The elementary group packed what they could carry and then selected some new weapons. Stan decided on a mace with four flanges that curved down. It reminded him of the _Elven Mace_ from _Skyrim._

Jeremy decided on a halberd, it was perfect for jabbing adults with its pointed tip and slashing them with the axe shaped blade.

Cooper decided on a double edged knightly sword.

Luna decided on a woodcutting axe. She chose it because it reminded her of how sometimes people would call guitars _axes._

Luan decided on a curved sword called a scimitar. She picked it because it reminded her of pirates. She thought back to how sometimes she'd dress up as a pirate to perform at kid's birthday parties. She thought back to the faces of kids laughing and smiling at her acts and jokes. She then wondered if any of them had died. And if their cheerful, smiling faces had been filled with dread and terror as adults closed in on them and devoured them. She looked at her scimitar and thought back to when Stan had tried to make her put down an older teenager. She'd made a sad attempt at whacking the teen with a tire thumper. She wondered what would've happened if she had used a blade. It probably wouldn't have done much, but it would've left a bigger mark. She hoped slashing at an adult would be easier than hitting one.

Lynn chose a spiked club called a morning star. Because of the ball shaped tip where spikes protruded.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay?" Brock asked.

"Yeah, we're sure," Stan answered. "Some of us have family back at the elementary school."

"All right, then."

They passed the gym and Luna stopped in her tracks. The others noticed and soon everyone stood still.

"Actually, is it okay if I say goodbye to someone really quick?" she asked Brock.

"Of course."

"Great, thanks."

Luna hurried into the gym.

The others followed her into the gym while Brock waited near the door.

Luan and Lynn stopped when they noticed Luna making her way towards a small group of teens that sat on the bleachers, most of them held instruments.

It all made sense to them what Luna was doing. Lynn held out an arm to stop Stan, Jeremy, and Cooper from following her any further.

"What's going on?" Stan asked.

"It's private." Lynn said.

Stan was a little bit confused and annoyed, but he decided to leave it be.

The group watched as Luna got closer to the teens. When they all noticed her they smiled and waved. They chatted for a bit and then Luna said something to the girl and she stood up and they took a few steps away from the group.

As they watched. They failed to notice a girl approaching them behind, with her sight set specifically on Luan. She walked up until she was a few feet behind them. The group was too preoccupied to notice her.

The girl stood for a few seconds wondering what to say. She was too busy starring at Luan to notice that they were all looking at Luna.

The group continued to watch as Luna and Sam talked. Both Luna and Sam were smiling and laughing. Eventually Luna said something and pointed to herself. Sam put a hand up to her mouth and from what they could tell, tears began to form in her eyes and she hugged Luna. They stayed like that for a few seconds. Not caring that the elementary school group was watching, and that Sam's friends were watching.

Lynn and Luan looked at each other and smiled. Then Luan saw that Lynn's eyes shifted to look at something behind her. Luan turned her head and was nearly startled by a pale, freckled face staring at her intently. It was the same goth girl from before whose staring made Luan uncomfortable.

The two girls stared at each other until the dark-haired girl spoke.

"Hey," she said. Her voice was quiet and soft.

"Um, hi," said Luan, trying to remember if she knew this girl. And that's when it hit her. She'd performed at this girl's birthday party before. Her name was Maggie.

Luan looked back at Lynn who looked slightly confused, but she quickly turned her attention back to Luna who was still talking to Sam.

Luan also looked back towards Luna, hoping this girl would leave but she still felt her gaze washing over her.

She turned back to her.

"Can I help you?" She asked, with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Yeah," said Maggie.

She stood silent for a few seconds.

Luan really wanted to look back at Luna, but she was lost in Maggie's cold, bored eyes.

"Well...?" Luan asked.

"Do…you remember me?" She asked.

"Kind of." Luan answered. Trying her best not to get agitated.

A small gleam of delight filled Maggie's eyes as she searched for something else to say, "You're…interesting," was all she could come up with.

"Uh, okay thanks," Luan said. And looked away.

Maggie clearly didn't get the hint that Luan didn't feel like talking.

"You're amusing…you amuse me."

"Okay," said Luan, "let's continue this conversation in a minute." She turned back to Luna who was finishing her conversation with Sam.

They hugged one last time and said goodbye. Luna made her way back to the group with a happy expression on her face.

"So, what did you say?" Lynn asked with a broad smile on her face.

"I told her that I was the one who left the love letter in her locker a few weeks ago."

"And?"

"And she was flattered, and she likes me too. But…" The smile slowly faded from Luna's face which made Lynn's disappear as well. "She likes it here. And I can't ask her to leave. She told me maybe someday- if things ever get back to normal- we can meet up and jam together. But until then we'll just stay good friends."

Luna wiped tears from her eyes and her sisters both hugged her.

"Come on," she said, "let's get out of here."

Luan looked back to Maggie.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I have to go."

Luan began to walk away when Maggie spoke again.

"Wait."

Now everyone in the group was looking at Maggie.

"What do you want?" Luan asked.

"I… I want to go with you."

 **7\. The Basement**

Lucy and Grace reached the bottom of the stairs. The basement was pitch black and dead silent. The only light was from Lucy's pocket-sized flashlight. And the only sounds were from their own breaths.

"Spooky," Grace giggled.

Lucy admired how brave this kid was. Normally a kid would've peed their pants and fled in terror at the sight of this dark basement. She shone the light from place to place there were boxes piled everywhere as well as tables and chairs and other useless school decorations. The walls were made of solid concrete and pipes scoured through wooden frames that hung from the ceiling. Lucy enjoyed the silence, however it was almost maddening. She finally decided to speak.

"Oh, spirit if you can hear me, send us a sign."

There was silence and then a tapping sound.

Grace gasped and then giggled.

They walked closer to the sound, Lucy tried to identify it, but it was too far.

They continued to follow the noise.

Lucy could definitely sense a faint presence.

"I think he wants us to follow him," Lucy told Grace before talking to the noise again."

"Oh, spirit, are you the ghost of the janitor who died here when you slipped on a puddle of water from your own mop?"

"What a clumsy janitor," Grace giggled.

Lucy shushed her. She swore she heard the sound of a sneaker rubbing against the floor. It reminded her of the sound of someone slipping on a wet floor.

 _It's gotta be him._

"Look!" Grace pointed at a light in the distance. "Is that him?"

"Only one way to find out," said Lucy, excitedly. In all her years of ghost hunting she'd had little success. Every time she thought she'd found a ghost it just turned out to be something completely natural. Like her cat Cliff inside the walls of her house, or one of her siblings venturing to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

They inched closer to the light, their hearts were racing. All the thoughts of what Lucy was going to ask the ghost rushed through her mind.

 _What's it like being dead? Is it fun? Have you met any famous dead people?_

They soon reached the source of the light. Lucy's heart sank once she realized it was just sunlight pouring through a window. She quickly realized the basement was dark because there were boards covering all the basement windows. All except this one. She looked at the ground and saw pieces wood and broken glass. She looked back up at the window and the blood in her veins turned to ice once she finally put two and two together.

The sounds of heavy raspy breaths, and approaching footsteps completely shattered the ice in her veins. All the thoughts of darkness, gloom, and misery shot out of her head and were replaced with thoughts of surviving. Thoughts of living every day to the fullest. Thoughts of happiness, sunshine, bright colors, and warm smiles.

She was no longer Lucy Loud, the girl who was always scary, dreary, and miserable looking.

She was Lucy Loud the scared little eight-year-old girl who wanted to live.

She turned to Grace and screamed louder than she had ever screamed before.

"RUN!"

 **8.**

Lincoln kept looking back towards the gym doors waiting for Lucy to return. He was really starting to worry, wishing he'd gone with them. But at the same time, he knew they how long a girl could take in the bathroom. Then again, this was only a simple trip to the bathroom. The world had changed. Lucy and Grace should've just gone and come back, there was no time to do whatever usually took his sisters to do so long at home. He was about to stand and when the gym doors burst open and there was a crying sound.

Lana.

Lincoln immediately got out of his chair and rushed over to Lana who was being escorted into the gym by a weary looking Marco.

"What happened?" Lincoln asked as he and a few of the older kids who were keeping watch in the gym ran up to them.

"Freaking, Greasy Monkey," he answered, his voice was filled with disdain.

Lana wrapped her arms around Lincoln and cried into his shoulder. Lincoln returned this by hugging Lana as well.

Meanwhile, Marco was talking intently to some of the teens.

"We need to do something about Grease Monkey. Do you know what I saw him doing? I saw him taunting Lana, he was holding up her dead pets and taking bites of them all just to frighten her.

Lincoln's blood boiled when he heard this.

"What can we do?" asked one of the teens. "Every time we go out there to try and get him, he ends up running away."

"Then we chase him this time."

"Are you nuts, we have no idea where he'll lead us. It could be a trap."

"I want him dead," Lana stopped crying and her face was red with rage. "I'll put him down by myself if I have to."

"Easy now, Lana," said Lincoln.

"I'm not going to go out there, I'll go talk to Tom the Boy Scout he can teach me how to craft a bow and I can take out Grease Monkey by shooting him with an arrow."

"That's not a bad idea," said Marco. "We can gather some wood and craft bows. Tom can teach us how to use them and we can take out adults from the roof."

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Lana demanded.

"Hold on," said Lincoln. "Lana your too young to fight."

"That hasn't stopped me before. I've taken out adults up close. I can take them out from a distance."

Lincoln couldn't think of a response. He wished his other sisters were here to talk some sense into Lana. He looked back to where Lucy was.

"Wait, I have to go find Lucy first."

 **9.**

Lucy tugged Grace along, ignoring her questions about why she seemed so panicked. A loud wail answered her questions and she shifted into maximum overdrive. She too suddenly realized what the footsteps from before were and why one of the windows were broken.

She screamed and began to cry. She couldn't see anything past her tears all she had to guide her was Lucy's cold hand leading her through the darkness towards the light that was being cast down from the open door at the top of the stairs. They raced up the stairs so fast. Miraculously not tripping on any of the steps.

As soon as they reached the top Lucy turned around and tried to close the door, but an adult reached up and his hand prevented the door from shutting.

Lucy desperately tried to hold the door shut. Grace tried to help her. They were both screaming as loud as they could for help. Suddenly an older kid appeared. It was the sleeping teen they snuck past earlier.

He swore and then ran over and put his body against the door. He told one of them to go get help. Lucy ran which prompted Grace to do the same. The teen wanted to yell at her to stay and help but Grace was so small it wouldn't make much of a difference. He mustered up all his strength to hold the door shut but in the end the adults were too strong.

* * *

Doug leant against the wall next to the door that Stan and the rest had left through earlier. He was bored out of his mind. Then another teen appeared and walked up to him. It was his friend, Tyler.

"This sucks," he groaned as soon as he got to Doug.

"I know," Doug said in the same annoyed voice. They were both thinking the same thing.

"I always thought a world with no adults would be fun. That I'd be able to eat and drink whatever I wanted to, stay up late, watch R-rated movies, and party with girls."

Yeah," Doug agreed. "Why does Duke have to be so bossy. "If I were in charge, things would be different."

"How so?"

"Well, for one thing, I'd let boys and girls sleep on the same side of the room. If you know what I mean."

Tyler smiled. "Oh, I know what you mean. It's a shame, Duke won't let anyone get their freak on. I finally get to sleep in the same room as a girl- or girls, and we're forbidden to even be near each other."

"If I were stronger, I'd definitely challenge Duke for dominance," said Doug.

"Duke's not the problem," Tyler insisted. "It's his gay friend, Joey. He's one tough son of a bitch. As long as he's by his side, no one's going to try to do anything to Duke."

Doug thought about that. Joey was skilled with his axe and before the blast he'd taken on several big bullies who'd made fun of not just him, but other vulnerable kids as well. As much as he wanted to challenge Duke the thought of being beaten up by a gay person bothered him for some reason. Then his mind shifted back to girls.

"It doesn't have to be about sex though, I just want to have someone to hold on to and cuddle with. If can't snuggle with girls, then who am I supposed to nestle up to? Some dude? No way!"

Tyler nodded his head. "Even if we were allowed though, I'm not the most attractive dude in the world. Why would a girl want to sleep with me?"

"Hey now, don't talk like that." Doug put a hand on Tyler's shoulder and gave him words of encouragement. "And besides, at least you don't look like _Doug Funnie._ "

Tyler laughed.

"Tell you what, dude. As soon as our shifts are over, let's go find some girls to chat up. I'll bet I can hook you up with the next girl we see."

Just then they heard girls screaming and Lucy and Grace appeared.

"They're a little bit to young for my taste," Tyler joked. But then he and Doug quickly stiffened up once they saw the terrified expressions on the girls faces.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Doug asked.

"Adults," Lucy spoke through quick breaths and pointed to where they'd come from.

"What?" Doug walked over and peered down the hall. He swore once he saw the approaching adults. Then he turned back and screamed at them all to run.

 **10.**

Lana pulled at Lincoln as he, Lana, and Clyde made his way down the hall opposite towards the woodshop classroom where Tom would most likely be.

"I'm sure Lucy's fine. Please, just come with me to the woodshop room," she pleaded.

"I have to make sure Lucy's okay. Have Marco or Clyde take you."

"But I want you to take me," at the moment, Lincoln was the only person Lana felt safe with.

Lincoln was about to say something else when shouts from down the hall tore his attention from his sister. He saw Lucy and Grace running with two older kids close behind them.

"Lucy!" he shouted. They ran toward Lucy and Grace who were waving frantically.

That's when he saw the large group of adults filling the hallway behind them.

Lincoln froze, suddenly he was back to that day. The day their lives changed forever. He wanted to cry, and scream. To run out of the school to his house. To hide in his room and bury himself under his covers. Where he wanted his bed to turn into a rocket ship and launch him off the planet, far away from the fear he felt in that moment. But he couldn't. Because as soon as he saw the fear and terror on Lucy's face he kicked the thoughts of cowardice out of his mind, and replaced them with a powerful need to save his younger sister.

He turned to Clyde and told him to take Lana to the auditorium.

Lana wanted to stay in fight, but Clyde lifted her up and ran.

Lincoln turned to the Lucy and the approaching mob and ran towards them at full speed. He grabbed Lucy and Grace and ran as fast he could. The thought of the adults grabbing him or his sister and devouring them gave him all the incentive he needed to keep going.

Kids who were drawn by the noise began to emerge from the gym. All of them instantly turning and running down the hall away from the adults as soon as they saw them. Lincoln stopped once they reached the gym and told Lucy to keep going.

"But- "

"Just go!" he snapped. "You can outrun them if you run as fast as you can."

Lucy and Grace nodded and relentlessly continued down the hall.

Lincoln opened the gym doors, daring not to look back. He then made his way straight for Trinity who was holding Lily. Watching him with wide eyes. As he ran he was joined by his dog Charles who ran up to him

"L-dog what's going on?" He heard Rusty ask.

"Grown-ups!"

The mention of adults sent every remaining kid in the gym into a panic.

Some kids tried to run for the doors only for them to swing open as hungry adults stormed in, grabbing the kids who had gotten too close to doors.

Lincoln reached Trinity who was standing defensively in front of a bunch of younger kids.

"Come on!" Lincoln said as he grabbed Lily from her and pointed to some double doors at the opposite end of the gym. They began to make their way towards them when they too swung open the kids were greeted with more green, rotted faces of adults.

They stopped dead in their tracks.

"To the bleachers!" Trinity shouted.

"We'll hold them off," a teen shouted.

Lincoln ran to the top of the bleachers with a few other kids as some teens stood at the bottom, fighting the invading grown-ups.

The scene reminded Lincoln of a sinking ship. The top of the bleachers was the bow of the ship and the adults were the rising ocean water.

He held Lily tight as she sobbed, muttering words of assurance that not even he believed in that moment.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lola, who was now in the cafeteria working on preparing food with Patrick, noticed some kids running by the door while others ran into the lunch room and hid under tables and in the kitchen.

Patrick shouted at them. Demanding to know what they were doing. One kid told him that adults had gotten into the school and Lola's heart began to race and her knees began to shake, causing her whole body to tremble. Her mind was filled with thoughts of her siblings being viciously mauled to death by those things. She wanted to go out and look for them, but she was too scared. Instead she hid in a pantry and cried.

* * *

Lisa was sitting down looking over her notes when Brian ran in. Lisa instantly noticed the panic on his face.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Adults," he simply said.

The blood in Lisa's body suddenly became warmer. She looked over to the adult that lay chained up to the table. He met her gaze and Lisa thought she could see a hint of content in his eyes.

Lisa didn't know it, but the adult had been sending out messages to other adults who sometime lingered outside the window telling them to stay away from the elementary school, as there was a mad scientist doing all kinds of unspeakable things to him. Some of them fled, while others were too stubborn to leave.

"We'll just stay put here," said Brian, as he pushed a table in front of the door. Let's let the others handle it."

"But…my siblings- "

"It's too dangerous. You're too important to put in harms way. And besides, you're too small to do anything."

Lisa hated to stay put in the room, but Brian was right. At her size, there was no sense going out there.

As Brian led her to a corner to hide in. Visions of her classmates being devoured began to flash before her eyes again, only this time it was her siblings be eaten.

Lisa closed her eyes and for the first time in her life, she prayed.

 _God, please let my siblings be okay._

* * *

Clyde and Lana soon reached the auditorium and bursts through the double doors. The looked all over the auditorium. It looked just as it had when they first arrived at the school. Kids were slouching in their seats while Duke sat on his throne with Joey sitting next to him, along with Randy.

Duke stood up.

"Whoa, where's the fire, dude?"

"In the hallway, not a fire but adults, loads of them." Clyde shouted as he rushed down the aisle and towards the stage, still carrying Lana.

Duke and Joey looked at each other and then back at the double doors as other kids began to run into the auditorium, all of them screaming and shouting incoherently.

Duke seemed taken aback. He looked almost uncertain of what to do.

Joey however, quickly shot out of his chair and rushed towards the doors. As he got nearer he heard the cries of kids from the halls and the roars of adults.

"Finally, some action," he yelled.

As he ran he yelled at several teens to follow him. Some shook their heads and backed away while others followed without hesitation. He then turned back to Duke and gave him a look that said: _What are you waiting for?_

Duke returned that look with a shrug of his shoulders and Joey rolled his eyes dramatically.

Doug and Tyler watched Joey rush past them.

Doug stopped Tyler and said, "There's no way I'm gonna let some gay kid show me up."

Tyler nodded and they both followed him.

Joey finally reached the front of the group of adults. They were all sickly looking with bones that were visible through green, wrinkly skin.

The male adult at the head of the pack reached for Joey who effortlessly brought his axe up and then down right on the grown-up's head.

"Boom!" he bellowed. "who's next?"

Another adult, an older looking woman with long dark hair, answered his question by reaching for him with bony hands.

He responded with a sideways swing to her neck. Her head came clean off. Joey heard kids behind him cheer and then he spotted other teens in the corners of his eyes slamming into the crowd with random assortments of weapons.

It was no contest. Joey kept swinging his axe horizontally as one adult fell, and another took its place.

Duke, who still stood on the auditorium stage looked around at all the kids who stood on the stage with him. They were all gawking at Joey and few other teens mow down grown-ups. He decided that he had to make it look like he was doing something.

He picked up his spear told Randy to watch the kids and charged towards the group. He mostly just stood behind the group though, poking his spear at any adult who got to close, while another teen took it down.

"We're really taking it too them," Joey howled with laughter.

"Look out," someone yelled.

Joey turned to see a slender grown-up woman wearing a black dress holding a knife stab a boy in the neck. He fell to the ground and the adult continued carving him up.

Joey swore, rushed over and delivered a lethal blow to the knife-wielding maniac's head. As soon as he did that all the other adults stopped fighting and began to retreat.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?" he yelled after them.

He and the others chased the fleeing adults. Unfortunately for them the kids were too fast and they soon caught and slaughtered all of them.

Joey sighed with relief as he felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"There's still some in the gym!" a kid shouted.

"Oh, piss."

Joey gripped his axe handle again and led everyone to the gym.

Once they arrived they saw the kids huddled on top of bleachers as. Teens laid into adults who tried to advance on them. While other adults knelt before bodies of dead kids.

"Reinforcements have arrived!" Joey shouted, and everyone in the gym turned to look at him.

Now the adults began to advance on him.

"You picked the wrong group to fuck with." He jeered. As he brought his axe back down on grown-up's skulls. He was about to bring it down on another adult. A wiry looking twenty-something year old when it held out a crowbar horizontally with both hands and blocked Joey's axe.

"What the fuck?"

The adult shoved the axe up and brought itself towards Joey with it's mouth wide-open. Joey let go of the axe with one hand and delivered a fierce right hook to the adult's cheek. It dropped it the crowbar and stumbled backwards allowing Joey to deliver a finishing blow.

"BOOM!" he shouted with even more intensity.

As soon as he took down that adult the others were as good as gone.

* * *

Clyde, Lana, and Lucy stood still with the other kids in the auditorium. The shouts and cheers coming from the halls were very reassuring.

"Do you think they got them?" Lana asked.

"I guess we're about to find out," Clyde responded.

 **11\. Leaving the Middle School  
**

"Why do you want to come with us?" Stan asked the somber girl who stood before them.

Maggie didn't feel like talking to Stan, she didn't even know him. She just wanted to go with them because of Luan. Luan was a girl who could make Maggie smile. No one could do that, not even her own friends or family. Sometimes she'd go see her perform at _The Chortle Portal._ Nowadays, you needed to surround yourself with people who could make you smile. Otherwise, you'll be consumed with thoughts of darkness and misery.

"I don't like it here," she simply said.

Stan sighed. "Why should we take you?"

Maggie shrugged. "I know how to look after myself, plus I'm good with a knives and blades and all that stuff."

"I don't know…"

"I'm going to follow you back regardless of what you decide. I know you'll have no choice but to let me in. If you don't I could end up dead, and you don't want that on your conscious, do you?"

Stan sighed again.

The Loud sisters all looked at each other.

"So, you know this weirdo, Luan?" Lynn asked.

"Kind of."

"Okay, fine," Stan groaned. "Go grab your things."

There was a hint of satisfaction in Maggie's eyes and she slowly walked over to where here friends sat on the bleachers and grabbed a black backpack.

"You're leaving?" said one of her friends whose dark hair covered his eyes.

"Yeah," she answered.

"Oh… well then…so… yeah," he said.

"Yeah…"

"Yeah…"

Some of her other friends joined in with their own unenthusiastic "Yeahs."

After one final _yeah,_ they nodded at each other and Maggie made her way back to Stan's group.

"Let's get the heck out of here."

When they made it back to Brock Stan told him that Maggie was coming with them. Brock had no objections. He didn't really care for Maggie all she did was loiter around the gym with her goth friends.

"Sorry I don't have anyone to help lead you back to your place." He said as they reached the front doors of the school. "Jay, Eric, and Franklin are tired. Plus, no one else wants to leave.

"It's fine," said Stan, then a thought popped into his head. "Have you seen any other groups around here?"

Brock thought about his question for a moment.

"Well, there is one group," he said with slight uncertainty. "They reside at that one small church," Brock told them the street name where it could be found. "I think their led by a kid named _Zeke_. You know him, right?

Everyone in Stan's group looked at each other. Zeke was an extremely religious fifteen-year-old they knew from school. He was always reading the Bible and judging people. It earned him the nickname _Zeke the Zealot._ And when he wasn't reading the Bible or hanging around the church, he spent a lot of time at the gym. God and fitness was what his life was all about. Which is why kids never made fun of him. He could bench press 250 pounds.

"Yeah, we know who Zeke is," said Luna with scorn in her voice. "He's told me on multiple occasions that my so-called 'life choices' were going to lead me straight to Hell."

"Well in that case, let's stay _the hell_ away from that church," said Luan.

Everyone laughed. Even the corners of Maggie's mouth formed the hint of a smile.

Brock opened the door and wished them luck as they ran back out into the new world.

 **12.**

Lincoln stood on the top of the bleachers, still cradling Lily in his arms. With Charles by his side. Next to him stood his friend Rusty who was hugging his little brother, Rocky. Lincoln scanned the gym looking at all the dead bodies. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Zachary sprawled out on the floor with his guts ripped out. He then saw the girl who Mrs. Johnson bit on the cheek lying motionless on the ground as well. Lincoln was sad to think that she'd survived all throughout the first few days with a hole in her cheek, but couldn't survive this random attack. He looked to his sides and was happy to see some of his classmates were still alive. Then he saw Chandler standing casually with his hands in his pockets. Lincoln hated himself for being disappointed to see that he was alive. Then his mind shifted to his sisters. He began to hurry down the bleacher steps. Ignoring some of the commands to wait from the older kids.

"They got them!" Lola heard a kid shout from the cafeteria. She crawled out of the pantry to see some kids hurrying out of the cafeteria. She followed them and broke down when she saw Lincoln carrying Lily.

She screamed his name and Lincoln jerked his head towards her. His eyes began to fill with tears and they embraced each other.

"Where's everyone else?" she finally asked.

"Hopefully in the auditorium. And Lisa's probably in the science lab."

"I think it's safe now," Brian told Lisa as he pressed his head against the window on the door.

He moved the table out of the way and Lisa rushed past him.

"Wait!" he shouted. But Lisa ignored him.

Lisa hurried down the hall and she breathed a sign of relief when she saw Lincoln, Lola, and Lily.

"Thanks God," she said to herself, and began to laugh at the fact that she'd just used that phrase.

"Lisa!" Lincoln shouted and they all hugged, chatted excitedly, and continued down the hall.

"They did it!" one of the kids in the auditorium shouted.

Clyde, Lana, and Lucy all looked at each other and smiled, then followed the other kids out of the auditorium.

Once they saw Lincoln and the rest they ran towards them.

Lana and Lola hugged each other and shrieked excitedly.

Lincoln and Clyde high-fived each other and began to babble.

Lucy stood silently. She was relieved that her siblings were okay, but she couldn't help but think. _This was all her fault_.

"Where did they come from?" Duke asked Doug.

"I don't know? All I know is that that they were chasing that little goth girl and her friend." Doug pointed at Lucy and Grace.

"Hey!" Duke shouted to Lucy, grabbing everyone's attention. "You wouldn't happen to know how these things got in here now, would you?"

Lucy was overcome with a tingling sensation, her face went red with embarrassment, and she looked at the ground.

"I asked you a question." Duke said, stepping closer to Lucy.

"What the heck, man?" Lincoln said, stepping in front of his younger sister.

"Doug says that these things showed up, chasing Lucy and Grace. So, I think they have something to do with it."

"I'll ask her about it," said Lincoln defensively. "Just back off."

"Don't tell me to _back off_ , kid," Duke exclaimed.

Lincoln ignored him and knelt to Lucy's level.

"Lucy, what happened?"

"Well… me and Grace, we… we snuck into the basement to look for ghosts." Even though she spoke quietly, Duke heard her.

"What! But the basement door was chained up! How did you get in there?"

Lincoln gave Duke an angry look. Then Lucy continued.

"I unlocked the lock with a hairpin and when we went down there, there was a broken window that they probably used to get in."

"Oh shit!" Duke yelled and turned to Joey. "Joey!"

"On it," he said as he and a few other kids made their way down the halls.

They reached the basement door and saw a corpse of a devoured kid, despite the mess Joey knew that the body belonged to a kid named Kenny.

"They killed Kenny!" he shouted. And all the kids resisted the urge to say _You bastards!_

Once they were in the basement Joey took out a flashlight and shone the light all along the wall. He stopped when he saw the broken window, and everyone laughed.

A fat adult male had gotten stuck in the window frame.

"Let's leave him." Joey said, "He'll make a fine barricade."

They went back upstairs and locked the door with the chains again.

They got back and told Duke it was all taken care of.

Duke nodded and then turned back to the Loud siblings.

"You're all gonna help us clean up the bodies -except for you Lisa, you get back to work- and then once your sisters get back we're going to have a serious talk." Duke stormed off and Joey followed.

Duke was pissed but at the same time he was kind of glad that this happened. Now, Lisa was really going to push herself now. Hopefully by the end of the year there would be a cure and he's be the most powerful teen in the world.

Lucy was crying now. Lincoln hugged her, and her other siblings joined the embrace as well.

"It's all my fault. I lead them in here. I should've been the only one to die."

"Don't say that, Lucy. You never meant for this to happen."

"But it did happen. If only I wasn't such a freak I never would've went into the basement looking for some stupid ghost."

"You're not a freak," Lincoln told her, "You're just a girl, a girl who has unique interests and stuff. We wouldn't have you any other way."

Lincolns words of reassurance did little to cheer Lucy up. The bottom line was that kids were dead, and it would be something she'd have to live with.

As soon as the hugs ended Lisa looked around at all the carnage. She was suddenly back in her kindergarten classroom. Helpless to help anyone.

No. She wasn't helpless. She was the smartest person in the world and nothing was going to stop her.

She looked at Brian and they were both thinking the same thing.

"I have to get back to work."

"Lisa…" said Lincoln.

She turned back to see her siblings all looking at her with worried eyes.

"Just take it easy. You're only one person."

I'm the _only_ person," she responded, and she and Brian walked back to the lab.

 **13\. Zeke the Zealot**

Zeke sat on the altar, with his eyes closed concentrating hard on the voices. They came and went and screamed out to them as loud as he could, but they'd never respond. Instead, all he could do was listen and try to piece together what the voices were saying and what the words meant. He was pretty sure the voices were God telling him what he needed to do. He couldn't explain it, but he felt like he was the chosen one. Like everything that happened, happened for a reason and it was up to him to find out what it all meant.

Recently there'd been a lot of talk of experimenting, and scientists. He'd have the other kids write down on papers all the words he heard: Girl, scientist, school, group, experiment, pain, suffering, cure.

 _No cure!_ The voices would cry out every time someone mentioned the word.

Then, a new word.

 _Mission._

"Mission," Zeke told the kids who sat before him. Most of them were teens he knew from school or the gym, they were all religious, like him, and well-built, like him. The others were kids that joined because it was the only place of sanctuary they could find.

"What could it mean?" one of them asked.

"It means we have a mission," Zeke said. "A mission to end all the pain and suffering."

He stopped talking when more words entered his mind.

 _Seven kids._

"Seven kids," He told them. "Seven kids are going to help us with our mission. A mission to stop the cure.

"What cure?"

"The cure that would only continue to bring pain in suffering."

 _Kill._

"Kill," he said. It was all starting to make sense. He was going to have to kill whoever was trying to find a cure. The only question was, who did he need to kill? He wondered if it was this girl, or scientist, or girl scientist. She probably resided in a school. But which school?

Zeke wondered how there could be a scientist if there were no kids left. That's when he remembered that there was a smart four-year-old somewhere in Royal Woods. All he needed to do was find her. He looked down at a hammer that was laying right next to him. He wondered if he could really use it on another living person.

 _No. If the time comes I must do it. I'm the chosen one, I'll do whatever God tells me to._

Zeke trusted that in time, it would all make sense. The seven kids would appear and more questions would be answered.

 **14.**

A howl sent shivers up everyone's spine. It had been a few minutes since they'd left the middle school and now they were in the middle of the street.

Stan, and Jeremy looked at each other with worried expressions.

Luna looked at her sisters: Luan seemed really worried, while Lynn gripped her mace in one hand and bat in the other. She wasn't scared.

Maggie put a hand on a dagger she had stored in a sheathe on her skirt. Her heartrate steadily increased, but she still looked stone-faced

Cooper held his sword at the ready.

Just then, a strange smell began to fill their nostrils.

"What's that smell?" Jeremy asked.

They all continued to sniff the air. Luna and Luan shot accusing looks at Lynn.

"It's not me." She protested.

Luna and Luan believed her, not even Lynn could make a smell this bad.

"Dead ahead," Stan whispered and they saw a large group of adults carrying body parts of kids.

Luna stood frozen. Luan put a hand to her mouth and tried not to cry. Lynn held her weapons up, ready to charge at the enemy.

"This way," Stan led them to an alleyway.

"What the hell are they doing with those body parts?" Jeremy asked.

"I don't know? Let's follow them."

"Are you nuts?" Luna wanted to shout. But instead it came out in a harsh whisper.

"We've got to study our enemy." Stan told her, "See what they're up to. Now come on."

No one wanted to follow Stan, but they felt like they had no choice.

They crept down the alley and peaked around the corner of a dumpster that was right next to the edge of the corner of a building.

There hearts all stopped at once.

There was a pile of dead children in the middle of an intersection. They watched as adults carried the dead kids and tossed them into the pile.

Luna shook her head, trying her best to swallow the bile that was trying to escape from her stomach. Then she heard Lynn speak.

"Jesus, look at that one!"

She searched the street wondering what Lynn was talking about. She heard small gasps coming from the others and once she saw it, she knew that that had to be what Lynn was referring to.

Standing next to the pile was the biggest person Luna had ever seen. He was even bigger than Chunk. He wore a dark blue tracksuit that was stained with blood and wielded a sledgehammer. He was watching all the adults as they tossed kids into the pile. All the other adults seemed to be afraid of him.

"This is too much," Jeremy began to cry as he started to back away.

Stan tried to shush him.

"We shouldn't have left the middle school. It was safe there. We're not prepared to deal with this. There's only Seven of us, We're in over our heads. We're- "

The lid to the dumpster they were standing in front of shot up and a dirty trash-covered male grabbed Jeremy by his hair and bit down on his neck.

Jeremy screamed in pain as Stan rushed to his aide. He whacked the grown-up with his mace and pulled Jeremy away from him. The adult ripped a large chunk from Jeremy's neck. Blood began to pour out of the wound. And Jeremy began to fall over.

Stan cried Jeremy's name and then screamed at the others to help him. Luna, Lynn and Cooper tried to help prop Jeremy up.

Luan and Maggie looked over at the crowd of adults who were now making their way towards them.

"They're coming," Luan cried.

Stan and Luna held Jeremy up and carried him by having him drape an arm over each of their necks.

They began to make their way towards the other end of the alley when suddenly, more adults began to pour in from the other side.

"Turn around!" Stan cried.

They did a complete one eighty and had no choice but to run through what little open space they had between them and the adults in the street. Lynn and Cooper went to work on some of the adults who got too close.

"There's too many of them," Luan cried.

"Quit crying and go help Lynn and Cooper. Get your little goth friend to help them too!" Stan shouted.

Luan raised her scimitar as a man reached out for her. She brought it down as fast and hard as she could and cut a diagonal line on grown-up's face. Blood began to gush out and his eye and the tip of his nose fell off his face. Luan lost it and began too weep uncontrollably.

"Luan!" Luna shouted. She let go of Jeremy to make her way towards her sister and Stan swore at her as he struggled to keep his friend to his feet.

Luan was paralyzed as the man made another grab at her. Before he could touch her Maggie stepped up and jammed her dagger into the grown-up's good eye.

The adult fell, and Luan looked at Maggie and saw no remorse or fear in her face.

"Come on!" she held out a hand out and Luan grabbed it. Her warm calm hand completely contradicted Luan's shaky, cold hand.

Luna stopped and was relieved that Maggie saved Luan.

"Your sister can walk just fine," Stan yelled. "Jeremy can't, now help me damn it!"

Luna hurried back to Stan and continued to help carry Jeremy.

Normally they'd be able to outrun the adults, but the fact that Jeremy was injured impeded their speed.

"We can't keep going like this," Lynn said. "Jeremy is slowing us down."

"Fuck you, Lynn!" Stan shouted.

"There!" Luan pointed to a church a few yards down the road. "Didn't Brock say that there were people in there?"

"Only one way to find out," Cooper responded.

They hacked and slashed their way to the gates of the church. They were open. They began to pound frantically on the door as soon as they reached it. The adults were slowly closing in on them. Lynn and Cooper stood shoulder to shoulder, ready to beat down any stranger who got too close.

The giant doors to the church began to open like floodgates and the group rushed in.

They heard the door close behind them and someone place a metal bar between the door handles.

The group looked around the church, it was dimly lit by candles and the kids in the church looked wide-eyed at the new arrivals.

"Help us!" Stan yelled, "My friend's hurt!" he stepped forward to show them all the injured kid.

A lot of the kids just looked at each other.

"Don't just stand there!"

"I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for your friend," a voice called out.

They all looked to see a tall, fit teen walking towards them. They all recognized him as _Zeke the Zealot._

"I'm afraid none of us are well-equipped to deal with such an injury as that," Zeke said. "He then held out his hand for a shake. "Hello, my name is Ezekiel, but everyone calls me- "

"I know who you are, Zeke," Stan exclaimed.

Adults began to pound at the doors.

Everyone looked back.

"Looks like you've attracted the inheritors."

"The what?" Luna asked.

"The inheritors, whatever this disease is it's taken over adult's minds."

"You think?" Luna retorted.

"Please!" Stan begged, "My friend is dying."

"Let me." Zeke took Jeremy from Stan and lead him to the altar. Laying him down.

"There's nothing we can do for your friend," Zeke said. "His path ends here."

"No, no! He's my best friend. Please!"

There was an all mighty bang at the door, causing everyone to jump.

"That must be the one with the sledgehammer," Zeke said, calmly.

"We're trapped!" Luan cried.

"Yeah…" said Zeke.

"We can't die like this," Luna said, "Why does it have to end like this?"

"All we can do now is pray and think of our loved ones. Hopefully we'll meet them someday in the afterlife," Zeke said.

Luna, Luan and Lynn all hugged.

Luna never prayed but now was as a good of time as any.

She spoke out loud. "God, please watch over Lincoln, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa, and Lily. And please let Lisa find a cure to the disease."

The word _cure_ was like a physical blow to Zeke.

"Cure?" he asked.

"Yeah," Luna sniffed. "Our little sister is a genius. Always doing scientific experiments and stuff. It's a shame we'll never live to see the day where she puts an end to all this."

Zeke couldn't believe what he was hearing. The words in his head began to make sense. He knew he was hearing God's voice.

Another bang on the door brought him back to reality.

"I just remembered," Zeke began, "there's a secret passage that leads to the sewers."

The group immediately rushed up to Zeke.

"Were you planning on telling us that anytime soon?" Lynn said, grabbing Zeke by the collar of his shirt.

"I forgot."

"How could you forget- "

Another bang filled the church.

"Look, it's better late than never," Luna told Lynn. She then turned to Zeke. "Where is it?"

"It's in the lounge, underneath the fireplace. Come on, I'll show you."

Everyone began to follow Zeke out of the nave. Everyone except Stan who clung onto Jeremy's hand.

"Wait, we can't just leave Jeremy."

"There's nothing we can do for him," Luna said, "We'll have to leave him."

"You heartless bitches!" Stan snapped. "If it wasn't for Jeremy spotting you and your family when you arrived, you all would've been torn to pieces by Brick and his gang.

Luna knew this, and she hated herself for having to leave Jeremy behind. But there really _was_ nothing they could do for the kid. She looked back at Luan and Lynn who met her gaze they had sad looks in their eyes. But in the end, they had to look out for themselves.

"I'm sorry," she simply said, and she and her siblings continued to follow Zeke's group.

"No, no, no!" Stan continued to cry. He looked back at Jeremy who was looking at him pleading eyes. His friend tried to say something, but all that came out of his mouth was blood, and gurgling sounds.

"I'm so sorry, Jeremy! I'm so sorry!" He then looked up at the walls there were murals of angels and other biblical figures, and a cross with Jesus nailed to it looking down at him, judging them all. "God, forgive me!"

Stan let go of Jeremy's hand and ran after the rest. He heard another bang and the door finally gave way. He could hear the adults storming into the church. He finally made it to the lounge where the last of the kids were crawling down a hole. Once it was his turn he descended footholds that stuck out of the concrete wall and began to place a cover above him. The last thing he saw was the shadows of adults racing down the hall.

He closed the cover and they were all surrounded by darkness.

 **15\. Speck III**

Speck watched as the kids ran as fast as they could from the adults. One of them had been bitten and they struggled to drag them along. They then reached a church and were let in. The adults began to bang their fists on and kick the door. Then, the big one showed up carrying his sledgehammer.

Speck had decided to call him _The Tower,_ because of how he towered over everyone.

He walked up behind them and shoved them all aside. He began to slam his sledgehammer against the door. In a few whacks, the door caved in and then he stepped aside, and adults began to pile into the church.

Speck expected it to be a blood bath. He expected to hear kids screaming and then see them all be dragged out by the mangy grown-ups. But it wasn't as bad as he thought.

He watched as The Tower stood with his sledgehammer by his side. He soon became visibly impatient and went into the church himself. A few minutes later he stormed out carrying the body of the kid who'd been bitten. He looked very angry. He then threw the body to the ground and walked to the sidewalk and began to furiously bring his sledgehammer down to the ground. Causing the poor slab of concrete to break into to several pieces. Eventually all the adults began to exit the church. Their body language showed disappointment. One of them picked up the kid. Soon the church was empty.

 _What the heck?_ Speck wondered. _Where did they all go?_ He watched as the adult who picked up the kid unenthusiastically threw him into the pile.

 _Maybe there's a secret exit?_ Speck then realized if that were the case, then they'd left that poor kid behind.

He shook his head.

It was a shame, but what else was a shame was that Speck just lied there on the roof and watched as the kids ran from the adults. He could've done something, but chose not to. He had had to look out for himself. Just as the kids had when they'd abandoned the injured kid.

This was the world they lived in now.

 **16\. Christopher Savinski V**

Chris and his gang were on the move. There were well over three hundred of them now. A building came into sight. It was a school. _Beaverton Elementary school._

There were boards covering windows. Chris could see kids peeking out. He could tell they were petrified.

He smiled and ordered everyone to start prying off the boards to get at the delicious meals that waited inside. The adults tore off the boards and made their way into the school.

Chris relished in the cries of the helpless children.

"The most beautiful sound in the world. _Kids screaming."_

Crony nodded.

"How come no one thought to tear the boards off before?"

 _Because most of the adults here hadn't eaten in days. Meaning that, they weren't smart enough to think of doing that. But with you leading them, there's nothing we won't be able to accomplish._

Chris howled with laughter.

He would go from town to town, from county to county, from city to city, from state to state, recruiting adults and devouring all the children.

Everything would belong to him.

* * *

 _All right, I'm glad I was able to get this chapter out sooner than expected. I hope you guys enjoyed it._

 _My one issue with myself is that I wish I could do a better job with pacing and dialogue. I feel like I'm in such a hurry to get the next chapter out that I rush through things. I really should try harder to savor the moments.  
_

 _Anyway. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. The thing is school and work are going to pile on now, so I don't know when the next chapter will be out, but I promise I'll work on it every chance I get._

 _So stay tuned for the final chapter of Phase II._


	6. The Heretic

_I can't believe I was actually able to get the chapter done so quickly. I really feel like I rushed through it though._

 _Anyway, like I said life might get in the way so I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter up. But I'll try my best._

 _Also, did you guys hear about meteor over Michigan a few days ago? Spooky._

* * *

 **The Dread**

 **Chapter 3: The Heretic**

 **1\. The Only Hope**

Lisa rubbed her face. She was dead tired. Every time she closed her eyes the face of an adult stared back at her, with blood dribbling from its permanently scowling face. Being the smartest girl in the world was both a blessing, and a curse. Everyone looked to her for answers. She'd used to have to take time out of her to help her siblings with their schooling. She didn't mind she loved sharing her knowledge. At the same time, sometimes it frustrated her having no one to have an intellectual conversation with. Even Brian, the smartest fifteen-year-old in Royal Woods was no match for her. And she could tell that he secretly hated being shown up by a four-year-old. But he didn't complain. He knew Lisa was their only hope. But now Lisa wasn't sure what she could do. Sure, she was the smartest person alive. But she was just a kid. She wished she'd taken some time to enjoy life, it was always a hassle getting her out of the house. She just wanted to be left alone in her room and continue her studies and experiments. But now, she'd give away all her intellect for things to go back to normal. But at the same time, she needed her intellect for things to go back to normal. What she meant to think was, she'd give anything for things to go back to before the blast happened. She wanted to see her mom and dad. And her oldest sisters Lori and Leni. She wished she'd hugged them more often. She wished she could hear her mom's caring, high-pitched voice one last time. And hear her dad tell a lame pun. She also wished she could hear Lori's authoritative voice tell her to stop with her weird poop studies. And Leni's soft sweet voice say something completely stupid. Why did she have to experiment on them without their knowledge. It wasn't right. They weren't guinea pigs, they were her family. They were all she had.

Lisa rubbed her eyes, she realized that she was crying. She wasn't one to show such mundane emotions but this time they were warranted.

She looked over to the adult who was still watching her with cautious eyes.

"I have to stop this thing," She told herself. Nothing was going to stop her. Not even God. She pictured him up there looking down on the world with his sick sense of humor. She then put that thought out of her head. No God would allow children to die.

 **2.**

Stan walked with blood-covered hands in his face. The sewer water was slowly moving past him as he and the others walked along the concrete walkway that rose above the sewage.

The kids used flashlights to light the way. They tried their best not to look as a body slowly flowed past them.

It was dead quiet. Only Stan's silent sobs gave the hint of a presence in the ground below the streets of Royal Woods.

Zeke walked with a hammer in hand. It was a claw hammer, with a bigger head than usual. He'd decided on a hammer at the beginning of the apocalypse because Jesus was a carpenter. There wasn't a doubt in anyone's mind that he could completely bash in someone's head with one swing of the tool.

He walked next to Luna as they searched for a way out of there.

He finally spoke. "Tell me more about this smart sister of yours."

Luna searched for something to say. It was funny there were so many things she could say about Lisa, that she couldn't think of one.

"Well… she's really smart."

"So I've heard."

Luna felt really dumb for saying that. "It's hard to explain, ever since she was a baby, she's been solving mathematical equations, working on scientific experiments, creating robots, she even created some medicine that we brought to the middle school before we showed up at your doorstep."

"Interesting. I can't wait to meet her."

"Yeah, hopefully she'll make time. She's a busy kid. She just might end up being humanity's savior."

Maggie walked next to Luan. There was some awkward silence between them. When they arrived at the church Maggie still held on to Luan's hand. Luan had to tell her that she could let go for Maggie to finally let go. She looked slightly embarrassed once she did.

Luan decided to speak. "Thanks for saving me back there."

Maggie instantly looked towards Luan. Her eyes seemed to shine, and her face gave off a surprised expression. She instantly settled back into her brooding expression.

"Don't mention it," she said.

"So, why did you want to come with us for real though?"

Maggie sighed. She reminded Luan so much of Lucy.

"Okay look, do you remember performing at my birthday party a few months ago?"

Luan nodded.

"Well since then, I've been thinking about you a lot; I'd watch your YouTube videos and I'd go see some of your shows at comedy clubs. You were like a light in my cold dead heart. And then the world went to shit. I'd sit in that cooped up gym with my friends. I liked them, but their stoic attitudes drove me crazy. Still, they were all I had since no other group of kids would let me hang out with them. To them I was just a weird goth girl who never showed any emotion at all. Which, in a way, was true. I was good at keeping my emotions to myself, but the truth is… I'm scared. Scared of what's out there, scared of the future and scared of dying. I just wanted a reason to be happy, but no one gave me one. And then you showed up, Luan Loud. The only person who could make me smile. I knew that if I was with you. I'd have a reason to keep going. A reason to smile. A reason to live.

Luan was flabbergasted. She knew she had fans, but she didn't know she had a fan that cared so much.

"Well…uh…thanks. That means a lot."

Maggie tried not to smile but in the end, she couldn't help herself. She also wanted to hug Luan, but she knew that something like that would have to wait until later.

Cooper walked next to Lynn.

Lynn stared intently ahead while Cooper looked at the ground, completely lost in thought.

"That was really messed up back there," he said.

"Can you be more specific?" Lynn asked without even looking at him.

"Well…all of it. The adults gathering bodies, Jeremy being bitten, the fact that we had to leave him."

"There was nothing we could've done for him."

"That still doesn't make it right."

"Look," Lynn was now looking right at Cooper. "I really hate that we had to leave that poor kid, but I didn't see you trying to stay and help him either."

Cooper couldn't think of anything to say.

"There were way too many adults," she continued. "we were outnumbered. And besides, even if we did take Jeremy with us, he was just going to bleed out before we got back to the elementary school."

Cooper looked back down at the ground.

Lynn sighed. "We're not bad people, Cooper. We're just kids, we can't be expected to make good decisions."

Cooper looked back up at Lynn and was about to say something when he yelped and disappeared.

"What the fuck!" Lynn screamed.

Everyone looked at her.

She hurried to the edge of the walkway and saw Cooper being dragged underneath the dirty sewer water by dirty, rotten arms.

"Help!" was all he could say before he was submerged.

Everyone stood around screaming, none of them wanted to jump into the dirty sewer water after him.

Lynn shouted at someone to do something, but no one budged.

She swore. _Looks like it's decision making time._

She gripped dropped her Louisville Slugger, gripped her mace tight and jumped into the dirty water. The last thing she heard were the shouts of her sisters as she went under.

 **3.**

Kids dragged bodies of dead adults out into the grass behind the school. While older kids stood watch. They piled up the bodies of dead adults while other kids went to work digging holes to bury the dead kids in.

"This sucks," Chandler groaned as he went to work with a shovel. He was talking to Andy. "Why did Lincoln's weird little sister have to go in the fucking basement to look for fucking ghosts? Now we all have to throw our backs out digging holes."

Andy shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just glad we didn't lose that many kids." Once there was a head count on all the kids it was concluded that only six kids had died.

Lincoln was also digging with Clyde, while Lucy was forced to mop up the blood on the school floor with Grace and some other older kids.

"It's scary," said Clyde. "I felt so safe in the school for the last week. I thought we were protected from the outside world. But after what just happened. I don't feel safe anymore. I feel more vulnerable than ever. I don't think we'll ever be safe again." Clyde thought back to how overprotective his dads were. They watched him like hawks. Always making sure his food was safe to eat. Always making sure he wasn't walking too fast in his own house. Always making sure he had his medicine and inhaler. He wished they were their now to make him feel safe. But that was never going to happen. They all had too look after themselves now, and today proved it more than anything.

"Don't say that, Clyde," Lincoln said. "You saw how the older kids effortlessly took down those adults. It was only an accident that they got in. All we can do is learn from this experience and prevent it from ever happening again."

Clyde nodded. "I guess so, I'm still scared though."

"We all are, Clyde."

Lucy wanted to vomit as she mopped away blood, not knowing if it belonged to adults or kids.

"That sure was scary."

Lucy looked up to see Grace looking at her. She had a smile that could warm even an adults cold, dead heart. It was hard to believe that only an hour ago she was scared beyond belief.

"Yes, it was."

"Were you scared?"

Lucy nodded.

"Me too. I'm glad Joey and the older kids were able to protect us, they were so brave."

Lucy nodded again. Remembering how Joey went mental on the adults while Duke stood a few feet behind just poking them haphazardly. She could tell he was scared. And the thought of that made her want to smile. He was all bark and no bite. He wasn't fit to be in charge. All he did was sit around in the auditorium looking important. They couldn't live like this forever. Lucy hoped that someone else would eventually show up and take charge.

* * *

Lana and Lola sat in the gym, with other younger kids, holding Lily and petting Charles.

"I'm going to kill him." Lana growled. "I'm going to kill that stupid Grease Monkey."

"How do you plan to accomplish that, warrior woman?" Lola quipped

"I'll get Tom to help me make a bow, so I can shoot him with it."

"Do you even know how to use a bow?"

"No, but it's never too late to learn new things."

"Are you sure you'll be able to take him out with it?"

"I won't know if I don't try. I just have to go talk to Tom in the wood shop room."

"We're not allowed to leave the gym, Lana. We'll just have to wait until Lincoln's done digging holes, or our sisters get back."

"Who knows when that'll be? I need to go now, every second counts."

Lola grabbed Lana by the arm. "Please…don't leave. Just wait here with me. I don't want to be left alone."

"You won't be alone, you'll have Lily."

Lola looked down at Lily and watched as a snot bubble formed in her nose and then popped.

"Lana." Lola said, sharply.

"All right, all right," Lana said, sounding irritated as she took Lily from Lola's arms. "I'll wait a little bit longer."

At this point some kids around their age heard them.

"You really want to fight these things?" One of them asked.

"Yeah, I do."

The kid looked at a few other kids who sat around them. Then he looked back at Lana.

"I want to help," he said, excitedly.

"Why?" Lana asked.

"Because when I saw Joey and the other kids fight all the other adults. I thought he was so cool and brave. I really wanted to go out and help him but none of the older kids would let me. I just want to prove that I can fight. I'm tired of sitting around the gym doing nothing."

Lana continued to stare at the kid. "What's your name?"

"Timmy," he answered.

Lana continued to study the kid he looked to be about the same age as Lana and Lola and he didn't look very strong. However, size didn't matter if you had numbers.

"If you can get some other kids to help me we can go out there sooner and take it to Greasy Monkey and his gang."

Timmy nodded and wondered off with a few other kids.

"Lana there's no way in heck you're going to stand a chance against Grease Monkey," said Lola, her voice filled with trepidation.

"Why not? Those adults out there are stupid. I've all ready killed some." She patted her wrench that was attached to the toolbelt tied around her waist. All I'm going to do is go out there kill Grease Monkey and then come right back in without anyone noticing?"

"What happened with shooting him with a bow?"

"Forget that. I'd rather be up close and personal when I kill him, so my smiling face will be the last thing he sees."

Lola began to shake her head. "You can't do this, Lana. I'm going to tell on you."

Lana stood up and pressed her face against Lola's. If you do that I'll never talk to you again, I'll denounce you as my twin and I might even cut off your hair while your sleeping.

Tears began to fill Lola's eyes. She threw her head back and sobbed.

Lana knew she crossed a line. There was no way she was really going to do any of that stuff if Lana _did_ tattle on her. But at the same time, she didn't want Lola to ruin everything. She needed to kill Greasy Monkey. Otherwise she wouldn't be able to get the thought of Grease Monkey holding up her dead pets out of her head. Ever since they first arrived whenever she tried to sleep at night. She couldn't get the thought of Grease Monkey stomping down on Hops and Biting into Izzy out of her head.

Trinity walked up to Lola and began to comfort her.

"What happened?" She asked. Her voice was soft and soothing.

"I don't know?" Lana answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess all the stress of the last couple of hours is probably getting to her, or something."

 **4.**

Lynn was surrounded by darkness and sewage. As soon as her feet hit the water she instantly regretted jumping in. But it was too late now. This was not time to show fear. She felt around in the water and felt something grab onto her.

 _Gotcha!_

Lynn pulled as hard as she could. She didn't think Cooper was this heavy. By the time she realized it wasn't Cooper it was too late. An adult male rose from the water and lunged at her; now Lynn was dragged under the water. She struggled for air. The adults had shoved her so far under the water that her back was against the floor at the bottom of the sewage.

Despite this she was still able to hold the adult away from her. But she felt her grip slipping. Soon she felt another presence jump into the water and the weight of the adult was lifted off her.

She quickly rose to the surface and instantly took a deep breath as soon as she was above the water. She wiped her face and saw Luna holding back the adult. The adult tried to turn and pry Luna off him, but she held on for dear life.

Luna saw Lynn and her face was flooded with relief. But then she remembered the adult that she was clasped onto.

"Lynn, take him out!"

"On it." Lynn felt around with her foot and brushed up against her mace.

She dove back under, swooped it up. And once she returned she delivered a fatal blow to the grown-up and he slowly drifted away once Luna let go of him.

Lynn didn't forget about Cooper. She thanked Luna and dove back under the water. Feeling around for any sign of the kid. She grabbed another body and wasn't surprised to find out that it was an adult as well. She brought it up and let Luna deliver the swift blow this time. That's when Lynn saw Cooper drift up from below the Water.

She grabbed him and heard cheers coming from some of the kids. But their cries were suddenly silenced once they realized Cooper wasn't moving.

Lynn looked back at the group that stood before them: Luan had a worried look on her face, Maggie looked a little bit concerned, Stan's face looked completely devoid of any human emotion, Zeke, however, looked to be upset at the two bodies that were drifting away instead of Cooper.

"Help me," she demanded as she made her way towards the walkway. Luan reached for Cooper, which prompted Maggie to do the same. Zeke helped too while Stan just stood and watched.

They lay Cooper sprawled out on the path. Lynn put an ear to his head and chest and began to do chest compressions and mouth to mouth. While people around her held their breaths. As if them not breathing would help Cooper with his not breathing.

"Come on, come on!" Lynn swore at Cooper. "Don't die on me." Lynn didn't want her heroic act to be for nothing. If cooper lived, it would make her feel better about her acts of cowardice at the beginning of the apocalypse.

Suddenly, Cooper began to cough up water.

"YES!" Lynn cheered as she set Cooper to his side and let him vomit up water.

Now everyone could cheer.

As soon as Cooper was done spitting up sewage water he looked up at Lynn. She was being illuminated by a flashlight which made her look like an angel. Even though she was soaking wet with sewage water.

"Thanks," he said as soon as he caught his breath.

"Don't mention it," she responded. "I only saved you so I could beat you at basketball when we get back."

Cooper couldn't tell if she was joking.

"This is not time to breathe easy," said Luan, pointing at the darkness behind them.

Emerging from the shadows, shambling along the path were even more adults.

Kids from the church began to panic, a lot of them hid behind Zeke as he stood without a hint of fear on his face. He looked almost pleased to see the adults.

Stan tightly gripped his mace, he really wanted to take them all out. But her knew it was dangerous to fight in the dark against so many.

Cooper groaned which caused Lynn to look back at him

"Are you okay to walk?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Good."

Lynn picked up her baseball bat as they all hurried down the path, away from the approaching danger.

"We really need to find a way out of here," said Luna.

"No, duh," Lynn retorted.

They ran for several minutes through the underground maze. They wondered how long these tunnels went on for. For all they knew if they kept on running, they'd eventually circle the globe.

"There!" Luna pointed to an open manhole cover.

As soon as they reached the steps that had been integrated into the concrete Luna told them what they should do.

"Luan, you and Maggie climb up first and then we'll let the younger kids go up and you can help them once they reach the top."

Luan and Maggie nodded and began to climb.

Luna then looked at Lynn, Stan and Zeke.

"We need to stay behind and fend off the adults while the kids climb up."

Now Stan spoke. "Why the hell are you giving orders, missy? I'm the leader of this expedition."

"Then step up," Luna didn't like Stan's tone, but she wasn't going to tell him off, it was bad enough he'd just lost his best friend.

"I will, I'll step up and kill all these fuckers. There won't be any left once I'm done."

"There's no need to inflict any more violence on these poor creatures," said Zeke, placing a hand on Stan's shoulder.

Stan instantly pulled away from Zeke.

"Are you fucking serious? What the hell are you smoking? Those aren't poor creatures- they're monsters. They live only to kill, maim and consume, and in case you haven't noticed; they killed my friends and tried to kill you and your friends."

"They won't kill me," Zeke responded.

Stan, Luna, and Lynn were slightly confused by what Zeke meant when he said that. But there was no time to think about it because the adults that had been chasing them continued to shuffle towards them.

"Here they come!"

Luna looked back as some of the older kids from Zeke's church helped kids up the ladder then to Luan and Maggie who were helping pull kids up.

She turned back to the approaching adults who were now completely visible in the light shining down from the open manhole.

The adults looked absolutely disgusting. They were covered in grime and feces. The smell was the worst part though. They smelled like shit and rotten trash. Which didn't seem to bother them at all. They were too focused on the kids that stood before them.

"Me first," said Stan as he stepped up and swing hid mace at the first adult, a male. The blow knocked a chunk of gunk off the adults and sent him falling into the sewer water.

The strike, prompted Luna and Lynn to step up and do the same.

"Good God!" Zeke cried, holding back from advancing on the adults.

"If you're not going to do anything than just go up the ladder." Lynn told him

Zeke didn't say or do anything. He just stood and watched with his hand clamped together as if he was praying.

The teens continued to send all the adults flying into the water, with major blows to their heads. The adults were blind due to the muck and grime covering their faces. The fight was over in a matter of seconds.

"Let's go!" Luna shouted and they all hurried to the ladder. She let Lynn go up the ladder first, and then Zeke. Once Stan made it to the ladder he told her to go up first. Stan secretly figured if he was the last one out of the sewers it would make him look brave.

As soon as Luna reached the top it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the sunlight. She wasn't sure how long they were in the sewers for. She was happy to be away from the smells. Although she and Lynn did stink from jumping into the water. But she didn't care. She was just glad to be on the dry streets of Royal Woods- at least that's where she hoped she was. She wanted to shout, dance, and sing. But she soon noticed that a lot of the kids were looking in the opposite direction of the manhole. Most of them were huddled together in a defensive stance. She couldn't see what they were looking at.

Stan soon reached the top and noticed the same thing as well. He hurried up to the group and pushed past them.

Luna decided to follow him and once she saw what everyone was looking at. Her heart skipped a beat.

Before them, only a few yards away. Stood a group of about fifty kids, mostly teenagers. A lot of them were wearing blue jerseys with white numbers printed on them, while others were white jerseys with blue numbers printed on them. Luna wondered what team these jerseys belonged to. Lynn would definitely know. Luna looked back at her sisters. Lynn was studying them intently while Luan stood behind her younger sister with a worried look on her face.

She looked back at the teens and studied them as well. They all had hard, curious, and vigilant looks on their faces. They all held random assortments of weapons: Baseball bats, clubs, and knives, daggers and swords.

They were holding these weapons at the ready, daring Luna and the rest to make one wrong move.

Finally, it was Stan who did something.

He held up his hands and spoke.

"Hello."

None of the kids said anything.

"Can we help you?"

"Yes, you can," A tall, tough-looking fifteen-year-old kid standing in the front of the crowd said. "You can tell us how to get to a school called: _Royal Woods Elementary."_

 **5.**

"What a day, huh?" a voice said to Lincoln.

Lincoln looked up to see Tucker approaching him and Clyde with a shovel.

"Tucker, you're alive," Lincoln was happy to see that Tucker was okay. "Where have you been?"

"I was up on the roof."

"And you didn't hear any of the commotion going on in the school?"

"No, I was asleep," Tucker looked embarrassed.

"Well, you missed all the action," Lincoln told Tucker what happened.

"Wow," was all Tucker could say. "Once I woke up and went back down stairs, no one would tell me anything, someone just handed me a shovel and told me to get to work out back."

"Well you probably should've stayed up there," Lincoln quipped. "We've been digging for over an hour. We have to dig six holes, six feet deep for the kids who died."

Tucker looked worried. "Who died?"

Lincoln told him.

Tucker shook his head.

"No kid deserves to die. But it happens, it's happened all throughout history. Kids are pure and innocent. Yet, the world would always find ways to kill them. Be it, a sickness, a famine, an accident, a violent act, or an adult who preyed on kids."

Lincoln and Clyde nodded their heads.

"We just have to hope," Lincoln said. "Hope that some day it'll just be us kids and we can make the world a better place."

Tucker looked up at Lincoln who was smiling at him. Tucker was glad that Lincoln remembered their earlier conversation. It wasn't often that kids took what he said to heart, but Lincoln was different. Lincoln was a good kid. He was a listener, he had to be if he lived with ten sisters before all of this.

"Yeah," said Tucker, "Let's not let these kid's deaths go to waste." And he went to work on the ground.

 **6.**

Stan, Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Cooper were confused. Why did this group want to go to Royal Woods Elementary? There were a million other places they could go to.

"Why do you want to go there?" Stan asked.

The kid spoke up again. "That's none of your business."

"Actually, it is our business."

"How so?"

Stan debated on whether he should tell this kid that they were from the elementary school. He continued to look at the group. A lot of them looked tough, but some of them looked scared. He also noticed some younger kids among the group. If this group was comprised of nothing but trouble makers, then surely they wouldn't have little ones with them.

"Because that's our home."

Stan ignored the chiding comments that Luna and Lynn gave him for telling him where they resided. Instead, he watched as the face of the kids he spoke to seemed to appear pleased.

"Can you take us there?"

"Why?" Stan asked.

"I got a cousin who lives in Royal Woods. His name is _Jake Flecks_ he and I are very close, he's like a brother from another mother. Do you know him?"

"Maybe."

"Hold on," Lynn spoke up now. "Why should we take you to the elementary school." She walked past Stan and went up close to the kid at the lead of the group.

Luna and Luan called out to Lynn, but she ignored them.

"Whoa now," the kid warned. "Don't get any closer. I'd hate to have to fight you- or rather have her fight you." The kids pointed to a strong looking blonde girl with short wavy hair, who was clutching onto a double-headed axe.

"Come at me. I'm not afraid of you- or her. I'm not afraid of anything."

The kid seemed slightly taken aback by her comment.

"You're not afraid of anything?"

"No."

"Then I guess you're just stupid."

Now it was Lynn who was taken aback. But she quickly stood up straight.

"I'm not stupid. I'm brave."

"Bravery has killed more people than fear. Fear is a trait of human evolution. It's nothing to be ashamed of. It keeps us alive."

"Are you scared?" Lynn asked, trying to deflect attention away from herself.

"Yes, I'm scared. I'm scared of the adults, I'm scared of dying. And I was scared when I saw you all climbing out of the sewers. But I can see now that you're no threat, you're just kids."

Lynn looked embarrassed.

"What were you all doing in the sewers anyway?"

"It's a long story. Why don't you tell us about yourself?" she asked.

"My name is Ethan Flecks. Me and my friends have come all the way from Indiana. South Bend to be exact."

Lynn looked at their jerseys.

"These are Colts jerseys by the way. That's we've decided to call our group. _The Colts._ You know who the Colts are right? They're a football team."

Lynn looked offended.

"I know who the Colts are. They're a football team that's part of the AFC South. They were originally the Baltimore Colts from 1953 to 1984 before becoming the Indianapolis Colts."

"Impressive," said Ethan as he gave her a creepy smile. "I love girls who know and love their sports."

Lynn made a fart noise with her mouth. "It's just the Colts, they're not that impressive."

"What?" Ethan looked offended now. "Please, it's better than being a Lions fan."

"At least the Lions were good before the world went to shit."

"Don't forget that the Lion's went 0-16 in the last ten years."

"Whatever. I'd pick Michigan over Indiana any day."

"Oh please, what does Michigan have that's better than Indiana. Lighthouses? Lakes? The Michigan Dogman?"

"What does Indiana have? Corn?" Lynn countered.

"Well if you must know, we have- or had the Indy 500, and the biggest Childrens Museum in the U.S.A. the Indianapolis zoo, Holiday world- "

"Whoa, let's take it easy," a short kid stepped between Ethan and Lynn. "This is no time to fight, we've come a long way. It's bad enough that every adult wants to kill us, we don't need to kill each other for them."

Ethan and Lynn eased up.

The short kid then turned to Lynn.

"Sorry about my friend. He's a tough kid to love, but he grows on you."

Lynn made a dismissive grunt.

"My name's Norman by the way." He held out a hand, Lynn just slapped it. "Okay… so will any of you be able to take us to the elementary school? We're tired and hungry and we've got little kids with us."

Stan stepped up. "I can take you to the elementary school, but whether or not you get to stay isn't up to me."

"Fair enough," Norman nodded his head. He turned back to face Ethan. "Shall we continue?"

Ethan shrugged. He turned and gestured towards someone who was hiding behind a corner of a building. The kid nodded and began to advance. He was guiding two horses that were carrying a big wagon that held some kids and supplies.

"What the?" Stan cried.

A lot of the kids began to jabber excitedly. The younger ones seemed excited to see the horses.

"Oh, sorry," Ethan said. "I forgot to mention that we've traveled here by wagon.

As the horses got closer Stan realized just how big they were.

"These are Clydesdale horses by the way."

"Can you all fit in there?" Stan asked, pointing at the wagon.

"No, it's not big enough. It's mostly for the younger kids. We older kids took turns riding in it while others guarded it."

"Cool."

* * *

The group continued towards the elementary school. Stan was certain that Duke wasn't going to be happy, but at this point he didn't care.

As he walked he noticed a girl with dark blonde hair walk up beside him holding the hand of a younger boy.

She smiled at him.

As beautiful as this girl was, Stan didn't smile back.

"Thank you," she said.

"For what?"

"For agreeing to take us to your school. I'm glad to be out of that church. It was pretty creepy."

"I only agreed to take you to where we live, there's no guarantee that you'll be able to stay."

The girl looked saddened by Stan's remark and turned to the younger kid beside her. He looked sad as well.

For the first time since losing Jeremy. Stan felt bad for someone else.

"Sorry," he said.

The girl looked back at him. "It's okay, I'm sorry about your friend, it wasn't right to leave him."

"Tell that to them." Stan nodded towards the kids who stood a few feet away from them. Luna and her sisters were standing next to Zeke as he talked away to them and Ethan.

The girl nodded.

"My names Stan by the way," he told her.

The girl smiled again. "I'm Mary and this here's my brother, Matt." The kid stepped slightly behind his sister.

"He's a shy little fellow."

"Do you have any siblings?" Mary asked.

Stan smiled thinking about his sister.

"Yeah, I have one sister named Sally," Stan's face changed as a dark thought came into his head. "I used to have another sibling, a boy named Sammy."

"Oh…" Mary looked sad. "Do you mind if I asked what happened to him?"

"It was before the disease- or whatever. Sammy was Sally's twin brother. Six years ago, when she and him were only a year old and I was nine. My dad went on a hunting trip. He loved to hunt and fish, but I didn't. I didn't like to hurt animals and so my dad went without me. And when he came back a few days later everything seemed fine. Then, a week or so later, he started to act strange. I woke up one night to find him attacking my mom, he was acting like a monster. I panicked and went to where my dad kept his guns. I grabbed one and threatened to shoot him. He then went after me and being too scared to shoot him, I ran into Sally and Sammy's room."

Stan lightly hit himself in the head with a closed fist.

"Stupid…" he told himself before continuing. "I hid in their closet while they slept soundly in their cribs he barged in and made his way towards Sammy since he was the closest. He stirred in his sleep. And my dad grabbed him. Now I shot out of the closet and threatened to shoot my dad again, he completely ignored me and lifted my younger brother up. I kept shouting at him, and then he bit down on Sammy's head. I Screamed and shot him several times until he went down."

Tears were slowly forming in Stan's eyes.

"I ran up to Sammy, but it was too late. My dad had killed him." Stan cursed at himself. "If I had just shot him earlier my brother would probably still be alive. Instead I was too scared to anything and now he was dead."

Stan then looked at Luan who was still talking away with her sisters. He thought back to how she'd been too scared to fight those adults a few hours ago. And how he'd tried to make her kill one. He was aware that he was being hard on her, but she had to learn how to fight before it was too late. He wouldn't wish the guilt he felt over his younger brother's death on anyone else.

Mary looked completely blown away by Stan's story.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine."

"Why did your dad go crazy?" she asked.

"Rabies," Stan answered. "turns out when he went hunting he got bit by a bat and since he'd been drinking, he was too drunk to notice." Stan thought about how creepy it was now that the adults were acting just like his dad was. Absolutely mental and attacking everyone in sight who wasn't sick.

"You know, you can't blame yourself for what happened right? He was your dad. If my dad went nuts, I'd have trouble bringing myself to put him down too."

"That thing wasn't my dad, it was a monster. Just like the adults are now."

Mary looked down at the ground.

Stan didn't like how he made her sad. Dumping that sob story on her.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that depressing story. Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself? Like, what you were doing at that church?"

Mary lifted her head up and smiled.

"Well, it all started when I was running to the elementary school where Matt was. I prayed to God to let him be okay and as soon as I finished praying. I saw Matt standing in the middle of the street all alone, crying. Either it was crazy coincidence, or God did hear my prayer. After I scooped him up I began to run towards our house, eventually me and some other kids were running in the same direction and that's when we were suddenly being chased by a large number of adults. We were all scared and crying. We thought it was the end. When suddenly. We saw Zeke standing in the middle of the street in front of the church. He was joined with some of his friends he knew from church and where he worked out in the gym. I ran up to him and begged him to help us. He just told us to stand close to him. As the adults approached he stood still, not even scared of them. I told him the adults were going to rip him apart. But he didn't budge. I was about run away and leave him when he held up he spread his arms wide to protect us. And the adults completely ignored him and kept on going."

"What?" Stan was shocked.

Mary went on. "After we all witnessed what had happened. We trusted Zeke completely, he led us to the church where we'd been hiding ever since you all showed up."

Stan still couldn't believe her story. What the hell was up with Zeke? He looked at him, he was still talking to the Loud sisters and Ethan. He was going to have to talk to him about that when they got to the school.

"So," Zeke began. "Do you really think Lisa can find a cure."

"Hell yeah we do!" Lynn said.

Zeke looked slightly shocked when Lynn swore. But he decided not to say anything.

"She is the smartest girl in the world after all.

"Oh, boy," Zeke said. "I can't wait to meet her."

The Loud siblings all looked at each other.

"Well she's normally really busy," said Luna "She might not have time to say hi."

Zeke's facial expression didn't change, instead he lifted his face towards the sky.

"God thank you for sending these messengers."

The group was kind of off-put by Zeke but they admired his enthusiasm. It was rare that anyone was upbeat these days.

"Is there anything Lisa can't do?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, fly." Lynn answered.

Ethan laughed. "Let's pray she actually can find a cure."

"Do any of you know any prayers?" Zeke asked.

Everyone thought about his question. The Loud family wasn't exactly the religious type. Ethan and his friends tried to think also.

"The only prayer I know is the _Hail Mary_ prayer," said Lynn.

Ethan snapped his fingers. "Yeah, me too."

"Oh," said Zeke.

"Yeah, said Lynn. "Of course, I only know it because of football."

"Me too," said Ethan.

Zeke's shoulders drooped.

"Sometimes I'd throw a football in the air and try to recite the entire prayer before catching it," said Lynn.

Ethan laughed.

A few feet away, Cooper was becoming slightly jealous at how well Lynn and Ethan seemed to be getting along. It wasn't even half an hour ago when they were at each other throats.

"You all still have much to learn," said Zeke.

"Like what?" Lynn asked.

"Like the word of the Lord."

"No thanks. I'm good"

Zeke was offended. But he wasn't going to force his religion on anyone.

"There!" Stan called out.

The elementary school was beginning to come into view.

 **7.**

Lincoln and Clyde were just about done digging the holes when there were sounds of whistles blowing. He looked up to the roof of the school and there were older kids yelling at them to hurry inside.

 _What's going on?_ Lincoln wondered. _Are there more adults or something?_ He didn't have time to think as older kids ushered the younger kids back into the school.

As Stan's group got closer to the school, they noticed smoke billowing from behind the school.

"What's with the smoke?" Ethan asked.

"I don't know?" Stan answered as his heart began to race. "Come on, let's pick up the pace."

The closer they got to the school the more obvious the smell of death became.

Stan, and the Loud sisters began to go into a light jog. They soon reached the front of the school and Stan looked up and saw kids standing on top of the roof, watching them and the new arrivals carefully. "It's okay it's just us," he called out to them.

He pounded on the front door and it opened slightly. There were still chains attached to the door handles to keep it from opening all the way.

Doug peered out.

"Whoa man, who the heck are they?"

"It's a long story Doug. Why is there smoke coming from behind the school?"

"It's a long story," Doug answered.

"Is Sally okay?"

"And our siblings?" Luna asked.

"They're fine," Doug said, with a hint of scorn in his voice.

"Well then what happened?" Stan asked again.

"You'll have to talk to Duke. He's not going to be very happy to see that you brought company."

"Ask me If I give a shit," Stan said.

Doug sighed, closed the door and unlocked the chains.

Stan came in first, and then the Loud siblings.

Doug sniffed the air. "Why do you all smell like shi- " he stopped when they all gave him intense, threatening looks.

"Long story," Luna answered, and they continued on.

Doug watched as kids kept piling past him. One of them he recognized as Zeke the Zealot. He was whispering intently with a few other kids his age. And then kids wearing blue and white Colts jerseys starting walking past him. Doug thought about smiling as kids went past him but decided not to, they really should've just let whoever was in charge of these groups come in and talk to Duke, but it was too late now. Finally, at the end of the group was a kid wearing overalls and a straw hat. He asked Doug if there was a place where they could put their horses.

Doug sighed. _Could this day get any worse?_

 **8.**

Lincoln, Clyde, and Tucker were confused as to why they had to go back inside, although they weren't really complaining, they were happy to be done digging holes out in the sun. Lincoln spotted Lucy who rushed over to him.

"What's going on?" she asked, worriedly. Hoping the answer wouldn't be _more adults._

"I don't know?"

They heard someone say something and looked down the hall to see kids walking across the hall horizontally from them.

"Who they heck are they?" someone said.

No one said anything. Instead they watched as the kids kept coming there had to be about seventy of them. As soon as the last of the kids walked by some of the older kids began to walk down the hall which prompted the younger kids to follow. Some teens told the kids to wait but they were all too curious. They followed the new kids down the hall.

* * *

It had been a while since Lola stopped crying. She sat next to Trinity who kept a watchful eye over all the kids. She looked over at Lana who sat restlessly, holding her wrench with one hand and smacking the head of it against the palm of her other hand. She looked at Lola and smiled and waved. Lola was still mad at Lana, but she waved back anyway.

Then an older kid hurried into the gym and ran up to another teen. They spoke for a few seconds and then the teen looked at Trinity and told her to watch the kids as he and a few other teens ran out of the gym.

Lola could sense that something was wrong, and she scooted closer to Trinity.

Luna, Luan, and Lynn were happy to finally be back they wanted nothing more than to go look for their sisters, but Stan told them that Duke was going to want to hear from all of them, although they were pretty sure that he just didn't want to face Duke alone.

Duke sat in the auditorium, still brooding over the recent attack. He studied his spear. He wasn't too happy with himself for how he handled the attack. He hoped no one judged him for hesitating when he was told that adults had gotten into the school. Instead, it had been Joey who sprang into action and took down several of the grown-ups.

Since the beginning Duke had been lying about his heroics. He told everyone it was him, Joey, and Stan that had helped take out the adults in the school. When in fact it had been all Joey and Stan. Sure Duke did help, but he mostly just jabbed pathetically at the adults with his spear.

Oh well. Duke was a leader. Leaders didn't have to be good fighters.

Just then someone rushed into the gym. It was Tyler.

Duke looked up at Tyler who looked worried.

"What's up, Tyler?"

"Stan and the rest are back."

Duke looked pleased "Great, have them come here and tell me all about their trip."

"Yeah, about that…"

"What?" Duke tensed up. Had one of them died? If someone did die he hoped it was one of the Loud sisters. He especially hoped it was Lynn. He couldn't stand her or her _I'm better than you_ attitude.

"Don't freak out Duke. But they brought company.

"Huh?"

Tyler opened the door and in walked Stan, followed by the Loud sisters, then a goth girl, then a kid Duke recognized as Zeke, and then around twenty kids followed him, and then a boy wearing a Colts jersey, followed by about fifty other kids some of whom also wore Colts jerseys while the younger ones wore plain clothes.

Duke shot out of his seat and before he could say anything. Randy spoked up.

"Hoosiers!" he shouted. "Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper…"

"Be quiet, Randy," Duke shouted and then he turned back to Stan.

"Dude, what the fuck is this?"

Stan looked at the group and then back at Duke.

He told him about how they ended up at the church and how Jeremy died. He broke down before he could finish the story.

"We had to leave him, we had to leave Jeremy."

Duke tried his best to look upset, but he couldn't. He was too focused on the new kids. And besides he barely knew Jeremy, he didn't arrive until a day or two after they secured the school.

Duke told Stan to calm down and when he didn't, he turned to Cooper and asked him to finish the story.

Cooper told them all about the sewers and the finding Ethan's group.

Once Cooper was done telling the story Duke turned to Zeke and Ethan. Since Duke already knew a little bit about Zeke, he decided to start with Ethan.

"Ethan, was it? Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

Ethan told him about who they were, where they came from and why they were here. He also included something that he didn't tell Stan or anyone else on their way to the school. He told them that he and his group were being pursued by a large group of around five hundred adults that seemed to be lead by a diseased woman who wore a pink dress. A woman they called _Princess._

"What?" Duke was shocked. "When was the last time you saw this group? How close were they?" And then he called Ethan an idiot, that they could be on their way here right now.

"Don't worry," Ethan assured Duke. "We're pretty sure we lost them."

"That's not good enough. We could be sitting ducks in this school. We'd be so fucked if those adults surrounded us like…like the zombies in _Night of the Living Dead_ or _Dawn of the Dead._

"Dawn of the Dead!" Randy shouted. "Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, - "

"Be quiet, Randy," said Duke.

Ethan looked confused. Then Norman stepped up and spoke.

"You don't really call these grown-up _zombies_ , do you?"

"No, that was just an example."

"That's good, because they aren't zombies. Zombies are supposed to be dead corpses who are brought back to life by either magic, or some kind of experiment. And as far as I know, when these adults bite someone they don't turn into a zombie or whenever someone dies they don't come back as a zombie. Therefore, they aren't zombies.

"Well then what would you call them?"

"We normally call them adults or grown-ups. But I guess we should come up with something else, as long as we don't call them zombies. Zombies are pure horror-fantasy. They don't exist.

"Zombies do exist," said Duke.

"What? No, they don't."

"Yes, they do. Ever heard of Rob Zombie?"

"He's just a cartoon character," said Norman.

Some kids laughed at that statement, Duke included.

"What's so funny?" Norman asked, looking around.

Before anyone could say anything, Randy spoke up again. "House of 1000 Corpses. Sid Haig, Erin Daniels, Rainn Wilson, Walton Goggins- "

"Be quiet, Randy," Duke said again.

"Why does he keep doing that?" Ethan asked, pointing at Randy.

"No idea?" Duke answered.

"Well, we really need to come up with a name for these things.

"Infected," someone said.

"No way," said Duke.

"Biters?" another voice called out.

"Maybe,"

"Strangers?"

"Monsters?"

"Sickos?"

Duke shot down all of the suggestions.

"I have an idea," a kid said.

Everyone looked to see a boy standing at the back of the auditorium. It was Chandler.

"How about we call them _greens?_ "

"Why greens?" Duke asked.

"Because these adults have a sickly green skin and we hate them. And you know what else is green and we hate?" Chandler took a dramatic pause. "Vegetables."

Some kids laughed, others shook their head.

"It's perfect," said Duke.

Some kids objected to Duke's idea of calling the adults, _greens._

"That's stupid," said Ethan.

"Yeah, some of us like vegetables," Lynn also said.

"I don't care what you think," Duke told them. "I'm the leader and if I say these adults are called greens the they're called greens.

Lynn rolled her eyes. Every suggestion she'd heard before _greens_ was a way better term.

"Excuse me?" someone said.

All eyes turned to the voice. It was Zeke.

"I only came here with my flock because I heard there was a girl here. A smart girl who's trying to find a cure."

"Who told you that?" Duke asked.

"Does it really matter? I just want to meet the girl who's going to end all of this."

"In a minute," Duke told him. "First, I need you to tell me about yourself. I know your name is Zeke and you're extremely religious and into fitness, but I'd like to know how you've survived so far."

"The grace of God," Zeke answered.

"Can you be elaborate?"

"It's simple. I'm the chosen one. I do what God tells me to do and right now God wants me to go see the girl who's going to stop all of this?"

There was murmuring all throughout the auditorium as soon as Zeke finished talking. Lincoln, Clyde, Lucy, and a few other kids were standing at the back of the auditorium against the walls. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I'll tell you what he's talking about." A girl stepped up holding a younger boys hand.

"And, who are you?" Duke asked the girl.

"My name's Mary Harper, and Zeke is telling the truth when he says that he's the chosen one."

"And how can you be so sure."

"Because," Mary began, and she told them what she'd told Stan earlier, about how none of the adults would attack Zeke and about how he'd kept them safe and heard the voice of God tell him that Stan's group was going to show up. She left out the most important part of why they were there though. Something Zeke had told them earlier. Something he only trusted with his flock.

Duke slowly nodded his head and turned to the rest of Zeke's group. "Do the rest of you believe this as well?"

A lot of the older kids nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay," Duke simply said. "Zeke I'm going to have to ask you to leave and take your _flock_ with you."

"What?" Zeke's heart dropped.

"You heard me. You and your group are obviously crazy. Hearing voices and shit."

"We're not crazy, it's the truth," Zeke protested.

"I'm sure you believe that, which is why I can't have you staying here. You and your group are too much of a risk."

"Please," Zeke begged. "I just want to see this girl and then we'll leave."

"I can't let you do that."

Zeke eased up and clutched his hammer tight.

 _So be it._

He turned to the teens that were standing next to him. There were twelve teens he knew from church and the gym. They were all as strong as he was. They returned his gaze and they instantly knew what they had to do.

Duke felt bad that he was about to send these kids out on their own. But if Zeke really was as close to God as he said he was he should be fine. "Joey, will you and the other guards please escort these kids out of- "

There were screams as Zeke swung his hammer and hit the closest teen standing next to him square in the side of the head. Other members of the church brandished knives and slashed at teens who stood close to them as well.

Duke swore. Stan hurried away from the slaughter, while the Loud sisters all held each other and stepped back. Joey rushed towards Zeke but was quickly cut-off by one of Zeke's friends.

Zeke constantly swung his hammer hitting any kid that stood in his way as he made a break for the auditorium doors. As he got nearer some kids that were standing near the door to watch the arrival of the group out of curiosity quickly stepped out of the way and he was finally back in the halls of Royal Woods Elementary School, looking in every room as he passed each door.

Lincoln held onto Lucy as he and a few other kids began to scramble to a corner in the auditorium away from the scuffle.

"What the heck is going on?" Clyde shrieked.

Lincoln didn't have an answer. He suddenly spotted his sisters scurrying away from the scene as well.

He screamed their names and they all looked up and smiled at him as they made their way towards each other.

"What's going on?" Lincoln asked them when they reached each other.

"I have no idea?" said Luna.

"Did you hear what Zeke said though?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah," Lynn answered. "He said God told him to…go see Lisa?"

"Yeah," Luan nodded, "But what could it…"

They all swore and began to make their way into the hallway after Zeke.

Clyde tried to follow them but was quickly cut-off by a bunch of kids as they ran past him. By the time he made it into the hallway he had no idea where Lincoln and his siblings were.

Joey, a few other guards, and Ethan and some kids from his group were all making a stand against Zeke's group. Some of the church kids were slashing furiously with knives while some of the younger kids cried as they watched the scene unfold.

Joey, and his group quickly gained the upper hand as they outnumbered the group.

The church group began to flee as some of them were killed by the Elementary school group and the Colts.

* * *

Zeke continued down the hall. He could hear a voice calling out to him, he was getting closer. He stopped when he reached the gym and looked in. There were only kids in there with some older kids watching them. Some of the kids noticed him but he hurried away before they could get a good look.

 _Closer._ The voice continued.

Zeke's heart was racing. He could sense that he was almost there. Attainment was at hand. He didn't doubt himself. He knew he would succeed. He was the chosen one. Why else would the blast have occurred on his birthday of all days. Specifically, his sixteenth birthday. He knew the disease only affected people sixteen and older, but not him. He had to be the only non-infected sixteen-year-old in the world.

The disease had to have spared him so he could be the one to do what was necessary for stopping the development of a cure. And the only way to do that would be to kill Lisa Loud. She was no savior, she was a Heretic.

Lisa continued studying the adults. He was acting strange over the last few minutes. He looked almost excited.

"I have to go the bathroom," Brain told Lisa.

Lisa made no gesture to indicate that she heard him.

He didn't bother repeating himself and went out of the room. After he shut the door he started down the hall and that's when he saw someone running towards him.

"Who in the world?" Brian suddenly heard shouts coming from down the hall past the approaching figure. Then some of Lisa's older siblings appeared, shouting at him to stop that kid.

Brian didn't know what to do. As the kid got closer he realized that he was bigger and stronger than him. All Brian could do was stand in place and stretch his arms out.

The kid bowled right over Brian, knocking him out.

Zeke noticed that this kid was wearing a white lab coat. Which meant that he had to have come from the lab.

 _HERE!_ The voice screamed out to him.

Zeke smiled once he looked in the room and saw Lisa all alone. He knew God wanted him to accomplish his goal.

Lisa heard the door open and assumed it was Brain returning because he'd forgotten something. Then she heard the sound of a table being dragged across the floor just as it sounded when Brian had done it earlier.

She looked behind her and saw a kid she didn't recognize shoving the table against the door to prevent anyone from entering. Then he looked at the adult that was chained to the table and then at her.

Lisa quickly became terrified. The person who stood before her had blood stains on his clothes and wielded a hammer that was drooping with blood, and a wicked smile on his creepy face.

Lisa was too afraid to say anything.

And then the teen spoke. "We have traveled light-years. Searching for a planet with suitable hosts. One we could call home" He took a step towards Lisa. Promoting her to take a step away.

Zeke continued. "We live only to consume and devour the flesh of the planets young ones. And we will stop at nothing to accomplish our goals."

Lisa took another step away as the teen stepped closer. There was suddenly banging on the door and screams. Lisa recognized the screams. It was her siblings. They were pounding on the door and shouting threats and obscenities at Zeke. But he ignored them.

"We are the future. Not you or anyone else. The world belongs to us. We will hunt, kill, and feed on every kid until the end of time. Nothing will stop us, not even you."

Lisa began to reach for something under her desk. Something she didn't trust to anyone. Only she knew it was there. Her siblings continued to beat at the door as the wood on it began to crack.

Zeke raised his hammer. "You will die, along with any hope for a cure. And we will live, strive, and prosper in our new world. We are the inheritors. We are your end. We are unstoppable."

Lisa quickly grabbed and held up what she was reaching for. It was a raygun. She aimed it at Zeke and fired. He didn't even flinch as the beam of energy shot right through him. Instead he began to speed up his advance towards Lisa. She fired again but Zeke kept on moving, as blood began to dribble down his clothes. The young scientist really began to panic as tears formed in her eyes. Images of her family and friends whooshed in and out of her head. She didn't want to die she was only four. She still had a long life ahead of her. A life filled with scientific discoveries, vast explorations, and joining the Intergalactic Council. There was no way she was going to be killed by this cretin.

Just then a thought popped in her brain. _Aim for the head._ It was as if her siblings were right beside her telling her that. She remembered hearing Lincoln playing his first-person shooter video games with zombies in them and he'd always tell the person he was playing with to aim for the head.

Lisa wanted to smack herself for not thinking of that sooner, because Zeke was right in front of her now.

She aimed the weapon at his head as he lifted his hammer.

She closed her eyes, heard her siblings finally barge in, and pulled the trigger.

 **9\. Humanity's Savior**

The sun shone brightly onto the world as the crowd waited for the ceremony to begin. Lisa sat front and center on the stage with a big smile on her face. She could barely contain her excitement. Her dream had finally come true. After saving the world from the virus that took control of everyone sixteen and older she was able to find a cure and bring back everyone who had gone mad due to the disease.

She looked out into the crown of millions. And sitting in the front row only a few yards away from her was her family. She was delighted that she was able to cure Leni, Lori, and her mom and dad. They all had big bright smiled on their faces.

A man dressed in a suit approached the podium on the stage and began to speak. "Ladies, and gentleman, we have gathered her today, to celebrate the incredible accomplishment of Lisa Marie Loud who- despite all the hardships, attacks, and assassination attempts on her life. Managed to find a cure to the horrible disease that affected us all and save humanity."

The large crowd roared with applause.

Lisa could feel the smile on her face growing bigger.

"And because of this accomplishment she has been chosen to represent Earth on the Interplanetary Council."

The roars of the crowd continued as the man applauded her as well as other leaders of the world.

"Lisa Marie Loud, your journey on Earth ends here and your journey into the great beyond begins."

Lisa got up and looked behind her. A rocket ship was ready to launch. In front of it stood inhabitants from other planets. All of them part of the Interplanetary Council as well.

As Lisa approached the ship, she took one last look at the crowd and her family. The gigantic smiles on their faces hadn't waned one little bit.

"I'm so proud of her," said Rita.

"I know," said Lynn Sr. "Our little genius is a hero and a savior to all of mankind." He wiped tears from his eyes.

"I literally couldn't be happier for her," said Lori.

"Who knew so much smart could fit inside such a little head?" said Leni.

"We love you sis, you're an all-star!" Luna shouted.

"I hope you have a blast," Luan laughed.

"You're gonna kick butt!" Lynn cheered.

"Take care, Lisa," Lincoln shouted.

"I hope you enjoy the vast emptiness of space," said Lucy.

"I hope you get to see some really cool, gross looking alien mutants," said Lana.

"You're a space queen!" Lola shouted.

"Bye-bye Sa Sa," said Lily.

Lisa put on her spacesuit and helmet and boarded the ship.

The countdown began.

The female alien sitting next to Lisa looked at her.

"Are you nervous?" she asked.

"I guess," Lisa answered. Turning to the alien. She looked Nordic. She had white skin, long blonde hair and blue eyes. Lisa felt safe in her presence as if the lady was protecting her. She gave off an angelic vibe.

"Don't worry," she said, "You're safe with us, no one will ever be able to hurt you again."

Lisa nodded "I just wonder if leaving is the right thing to do? I really feel like there's more I could've done for the world."

The woman made a soft shushing sound and spoke again. "You've done all you could, there's nothing more for you here. Now sit back and rest. You've earned it."

Lisa felt a calmness wash over her.

The rocket ship blasted off and Lisa could hear the crowd chanting her name over the thundering of the rockets engines.

"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa!"

The launch site began to shrink away. Somehow, Lisa could see everything as the rocket continued to ascend. She saw her town of Royal Woods, and then she saw her school and finally she saw her house. The place she loved the most. The place where she was the happiest. It wasn't school or the library, or the universities or the museums, or the science labs where she was the happiest. It was her house. The Loud house, her one and only home. Now she was off to a new home. A new place. A new adventure. Space, the final frontier.

Soon the world began to drift away until it was only a dot in the middle of a blank, dark, starless atmosphere.

Lisa closed her eyes as the rocket continued into the great beyond. "Goodbye house. Goodbye family. Goodbye world."

 **10\. No Hope**

"Lisa, Lisa, Lisa," All of Lisa's siblings cried her name as if she'd come back to them if they said it enough times.

Luna held Lisa's body which had Zeke's hammer embedded into its skull.

Luan was on her knees and she threw her head back as she wailed.

Lynn was crying, swearing and punching the ground as she lay on all fours.

Lincoln was sitting and holding Lucy as they both wept together.

Meanwhile, back at the auditorium Zeke's group had been taken down, some of them were dead and others were injured and had no will to fight.

Joey counted the bodies. He knew Zeke had escaped but there was another one missing.

"There's one behind the stage!" Ethan cried.

He and Joey ran after him to find him slashing the tires of the bus.

"I didn't know you guys had a bus," said Ethan.

The teen looked at them and smiled.

"A bus that can't go anywhere."

Joey swore and rushed the teen.

The boy held out his knife in a defensive stance, but Joey ended up cutting off his hand with one swing of his axe.

The boy screamed and fell to his knees. He looked up and shouted. "Are you watching God? I'm doing all of this for you!"

"No one's watching over any of us," said Joey, coldly. And he brought his axe down on the boy's head.

He and Ethan dragged the body back to the auditorium. Where kids were still crying as other teens were looking around nervously, still shocked at what had just happened. Joey spotted Duke standing in the middle of the carnage staring off into the distance and ran up to him.

"Come on Duke we have to go after Zeke."

"I-I-I didn't w-w-want any of this" Tear were running down Duke's face.

Joey slapped Duke which brought him back to his senses.

"Come on dude, no one wanted any of this. But it's happened. Now be a leader."

"All right, all right." Duke told some of the older kids to take the younger kids to the gym and told Ethan to tell some of his friends to keep an eye on the church group.

Ethan nodded and turned to a strong looking girl with short wavy blonde hair. "Lexi, you and Norman stay here and keep an eye on them." He pointed to the injured church kids on the ground and the scared little church kids in the corner. "We're going to go look for Zeke."

"Yes, sir," she said, and held up her axe as if she was ready to attack.

As Joey and the rest made their way down the auditorium they past many of their own kids who were lying on the ground with head wounds, some of them weren't moving while other sat and sobbed.

 _Looks like Sanjay's going to have a lot of work to do._ Joey thought.

* * *

Lana and Lola were still in the gym. Lana had gone up to Trinity and told her she'd seen a scary looking person look at her through the small window on one of the double doors. Trinity put a hand on her shoulder and told one of the older kids to go take a look.

The kid looked out and saw some other kids run by.

"I think somethings going on," he said.

Lana and Lola huddled closer together as they and some other young kids scooted closer to Trinity.

Then other kids began to come into the gym.

"What's going on?" the kid at the door asked one of them.

"Stan and the others are back."

Lana and Lola perked up when they heard this.

"It's bad out there, people are dead."

The twins looked at each other and then back at the kids who were pouring into the gym.

"Are our sisters okay?" Lana and Lola got up and went towards the kid before Trinity could stop them.

The kids looked at the twins and he instantly knew who they were talking about.

"Yeah, they're fine."

Lana and Lola eased up.

They were about to ask him where they were when they heard shouting coming from down the hall. They recognized the shouts. It was their siblings. Lana and Lola threw caution to the wind and ran past the kid into the halls. Ignoring shouts from the older kids.

They ran down the hall as fast as their little legs could carry them. Their sibling's screams grew louder the closer they got to the were coming from. Their hearts were racing as they passed Brian who was lying on the ground rubbing his head.

They reached the room where the screams resided: the science lab.

Lana and Lola looked in. They saw all their older siblings crying. And the body of an older kid lying on the ground with a hole in his head as if he had been blasted by something. His eyes were wide open and he had a smile on his face. They tried their best to ignore the body and approached their siblings without them noticing. Lola made a whimpering sound and her siblings finally noticed them.

They all looked at each other and the twins noticed that Lisa was absent.

"What's going on?" asked Lola.

"Where's Lisa?" asked Lana.

They both noticed that Luna was holding something in her arms.

"What are you holding?" Lola asked.

Luna tried to hide what she was holding. As Lynn got up and tried to escort the twins away.

"No, where's Lisa?" Lana started to shout.

"Where's our little sister?" Lola was screaming.

Lynn was struggling to contain the twins. Lincoln tried to get up and help Lynn, but Lucy held onto him to prevent him from leaving her.

The twins were both screaming and managed to break away from Lynn.

"No!" everyone shouted. As the twins made their way towards Luna. She made a last-ditch effort to hide what she was holding from the twins. As if keeping them from seeing what she held onto would protect them from all the pain and misery they were experiencing at that moment. But the twins were too fast. Once they saw Lisa with the hammer firmly driven into her head they lost it.

Lana started to scream and sob, while Lola began to shake. Her vision became fuzzy and she suddenly felt dizzy. Then she was surrounded by darkness. Lynn caught her as she fell and held onto to her and cried. The other joined in as well and they all held each other. Why did Lisa have to die? She didn't deserve to die. No one did.

Soon, other kids began to appear in the door way. Some of them stepped back and started to cry when they saw the dead bodies, while others stood still and put hands to their mouths.

Duke, Joey, and Ethan finally made it to the science lab.

"What happened?" Duke asked one of the kids.

"The smart one… she's dead."

Duke stood as still as a stone as the sounds of the crying Loud siblings began to fade into nothingness. Only to be replaced by a high-pitched ringing noise. He saw the shapes of people still moving in front of him. He could make out Ethan saying something to Joey with his arms in a shrugged position as if he was asking him something. He could see Joey talking back to him and Ethan put a hand on his head as if what Joey had said shocked him completely.

Even though he didn't hear what they were saying he knew exactly what Joey had just said. Lisa Loud was a genius. The only person in the world who could've put a stop to this disease. And now she was dead. Their little beacon of hope was extinguished. This was the end. They were fucked.

Duke wanted to kill himself at that moment. He wanted to take the spear and drive it into his chest. Why did he have to make Stan and the others go to the middle school. He should've just told Jay and the rest to _fuck off._ If he hadn't have sent them off they would never have found Zeke and Lisa would still be alive. It was all his fault. He hoped one of the Loud sisters would die. So that Lisa would work harder on finding a cure. But in the end, it was Lisa who payed the price for his selfish act. The only one they couldn't afford to lose. Duke wanted to be a hero. But now, he was a villain. The human population was going to go extinct all because he wanted to be the one on top.

 **11\. Christopher Savinski VI**

Chris and the others dug into the kids that they had captured. Some of the kids had escaped, but Chris didn't fret over them. In time they'd get theirs. Instead, Chris looked ahead to where they'd go next. He pulled out a map and studied the next few towns they'd end up at: Hazeltucky, Huntington Oaks, and Royal Woods.

Chris couldn't wait to gather up even more adults and see the look on all the kids faces when they showed up. He figured if kids were held up in this school. Then their had to be other groups of kids in these town's schools as well.

He laughed, shoved the map back into his pocket and continued to dig into the flesh of the partially alive kid that was lying in front of him.

* * *

 _Lisa was OP I had to nerf.  
_

 _But seriously, do you want to know what my favorite parts of The Enemy series were? They were the death scenes. Like how sometimes characters would imagine things before they died. In Lisa's case she imagined accomplishing her goal of representing Earth on the Interplanetary Council._

 _Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was the final chapter of Phase II._

 _Stay tuned for chapter 1 of Phase III: The Danger._


	7. The Execution

**I'm actually quite satisfied with how this chapter turned out. I hope you guys enjoy.  
**

* * *

 **The Danger  
**

 **Chapter 1: Execution**

 **1\. Fasto**

He couldn't remember his name. He couldn't remember his family. He couldn't remember what his life was like before he was taken over. The only glimmer of memory he had was from his childhood. People made fun of him because of his weight. They called him _Fatso_. He didn't know what it meant but the name seemed to stick with him. All he knew was, the person he'd taken over was a very heavy person. He wasn't sure how much he weighed. But he had so much fat that no attack could do a lot of damage to him. Whenever someone slashed at him or stabbed him, his fat absorbed the impact. Another perk of him being so fat was he could eat way more than any other adult could which is why he had so much power over all the other grown-ups. He had consumed so much flesh that he had become top dog. He could command others to do what he wanted and he didn't have to lift a finger. Instead, he sat on a makeshift throne in the middle of Royal Woods' High School's football field as other adults gathered bodies- alive or dead, gas tanks, propane tanks, and other flammable objects. They were preparing for a cookout, a barbecue to end all barbecues. They were going to start a huge fire, so big and bright that it would be able to be seen from space.

Fatso looked over to the kids who were still alive. They were being held in locked cars that had been moved closer to the field. The kids watched the adults gather bodies through attentive, dreary, tear-stained eyes. Fatso licked his lips at the though of chomping down on them. But he had to wait. Wait until there was enough food for everyone to eat. If an adult wanted to join in the feast, then they had to show up with the body of an intact kid. Instead, to distract himself from the thought of eating the kids. Fatso had infected teenagers sitting in front of him. They were there for his own personal pleasure. There were four of them. All of them looked to be seventeen and they were all blonde. He spoke telepathically to a girl a blue tank top and pointed at his junk and she pulled down his gray sweatpants and went to work. Fatso smiled. As far as the person he'd taken control of was concerned. This disease was probably the best thing that had ever happened to him.

 **2\. School of Misery**

The Loud siblings had been having similar dreams for the last week. Lisa was in front of them. Reaching out for them begging for them to save her. They ran to her as fast as they could, arms extended. But no matter what they did Lisa was consumed by darkness. There'd be a whacking sound, which sounded like something being slammed onto flesh. And then she'd reappear with a hole in her head and be covered in blood. Her blood.

Luna woke up in a cold sweat. She looked around. The gym was dark, but light was just beginning to flood in through the windows. Then she looked at her siblings. They were all sleeping next to each other. She then thought of how they had all behaved in the last week. Since Luna was the oldest she had to be the strongest member of the family. She had had to try to calm them all down and try to comfort them, even though she was just as devastated as they were. Luan had hardly said a single word, it was like she shut herself out from the world. It reminded Luna of when she's do her mime act whenever she was upset. But the things she used to upset about were nothing compared to the loss of her younger sister. Lynn was still sleeping which normally would've been odd had this been the week before Lisa's death. But now Lynn slept more than she normally did and when she wasn't asleep she'd go workout vigorously in the school's workout room harder than she normally would. Whenever Lynn was done working out she'd be sweating, panting, and on the verge of passing out. Her hands would also be bruised and bloody from beating the hell out of the punching bag. Lincoln had also tried to cheer up his siblings even though he was also despaired by Lisa's death as well. He wouldn't really talk to anyone either. Not even his best friend, Clyde. Lucy would sit around as still as a statue. She was all ready upset over the deaths of the kids who had been killed when adults had gotten into the school. And now she had the death of a family member to add to that misery. Lana had been both upset and furious. She'd constantly mumble to herself about _killing them all_. Which caused all her siblings to worry about her mental state. Lola had been constantly weeping. She didn't care about her appearance at all anymore. She'd cry out for her mom and dad, for her older sisters, and for Lisa. As if they'd appear in front of her if she cried hard enough. And then there was Lily, so small, pure, and innocent. She had no idea what was going on. But somehow, she sensed that her older siblings were sad, which made her sad.

At the risk of waking the twins up, who were both cuddled up against her. Luna brought a hand up to her face and she could feel it get wet, Luna didn't know it, but she was crying. She lifted her hand away from her face and studied it. In the glow of the sunlight she could barely make out the wetness from her sweat and tears on her hand. As she continued to look at her hand she made out all the lines on her palm and then the callus on her fingertips. She thought back to playing the guitar. Who knew when she was going to get another chance to do that again. Before the world went nuts, her hands were only used to write music and play instruments. Now her hands were tools of destruction. They were used to wield weapons, take down adults, and break Leni's leg. Luna quickly pushed that thought out of her head. She focused solely on her hand. She swore that someday she'd go back to making music and make people happy. But the longer she looked at her hand the more she could begin to see blood appear on it. Lisa's blood. Luna quickly moved her hand away and wrapped it around one of the twins. Luna wanted to go back to sleep. To dream about nothing but living a long happy life with her family. Only in her dreams would she be able to be happy. But she wasn't even safe in her dreams. Because as soon as she drifted off, she saw Lisa standing in front of her. Beckoning her. Luna ran and reached out to her. But as usual, Lisa was engulfed by darkness. And then reemerged as a corpse. Luna fell to her knees and cradled her sister.

 _I'm so sorry sis._ Luna cried. It was her job to protect her sister and she had failed. Now the entire world was doomed.

* * *

Duke sat in the auditorium, wide awake. The warm glow of the candles gave him a false sense of security. To his right, lay Joey, sleeping with his axe next to him. And all around the auditorium lay the kids who called themselves _The Colts_. Duke had allowed them to stay since there was safety in numbers, but large numbers meant more needs. Needs for food and water. The Colts had brought a lot of food and other supplies with them, but it wouldn't last forever. They'd have to send out more scavenging parties. Some kids were ready and willing. But others were scared and useless.

Duke wanted to bite his fingernails, but he had all ready nibbled them down to the skin of his fingertips. So all he could do was think about the events of the last week. They'd buried Lisa behind the school as bodies of adults burned a few yards away. There was crying, swearing, and arguing. Everyone wanted to blame someone for Lisa's death. In the end, it came down to one group. Zeke's group. Everyone decided to call them the Zealots. After the dust settled. Duke decided to lock the older one's in a storage closet. The ones who seemed to be completely devoted to Zeke's cause. As for the younger ones, it was decided that they were innocent, so the group decided not to punish them. In the meantime, Sanjay and some other kids had been hard at work trying to treat the injured. Some kids had died. Eleven, not including Zeke's group. And eight more were injured. Sanjay wasn't sure if they were going to make it.

Then Stan and the older Loud sisters found out about how Lucy and Grace had gone into the school's basement and were nearly killed by grown-ups- or _greens_ , as Duke had tried to push on everyone. They weren't happy. Stan argued that Lucy could've gotten his sister and many others killed. The Loud siblings were quickly able to shut him down by telling him that Lucy didn't mean for anything to happen and for him to back off as she was only a kid. Sure, they were all kids, but some were more kid-ish than others.

But Duke didn't care about what Lucy had done anymore. All he cared about were the Zealots that were locked up in a storage closet. Duke wanted them to starve to death, but some kids argued that that was too cruel. While others argued that they'd be getting what they deserved. That's when Duke decided on a solution. Something they had no choice to do. They couldn't risk any of the Zealots escaping and causing more harm. He had no choice. He was going to have to have The Zealots executed.

* * *

Luna was awake again. The light in the auditorium had increased and some kids were beginning to get up. As some of them passed, they tried not to look at Luna or her or any of the Loud siblings. But Luna could feel their gaze as they sauntered by.

She felt her younger siblings shift and soon they were all awake. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their hair was a mess. But they didn't care.

Marco and Sarah made no attempt to go talk to Lana or Lola. Grace made no attempt to talk to Lucy. But Maggie still sat near the group. However, Luan's dejected attitude over the last week made her even more despondent than she was at the middle school. When she first saw Luan arrive, she thought she'd finally found someone who could lift her spirits up. But seeing her sad only made things worse. Part of her was beginning to wish she'd stayed at the middle school, but another part of her hoped that in time, Luan would be back to her cheerful, playful, witty self.

Clyde went up to Lincoln and his sisters. Throughout the week he had tried his best to talk to Lincoln and cheer him up. But Lincoln hardly responded to his best friend. Clyde knew today would probably be the same, but he wasn't going to give up.

"Hi, Lincoln," he said in an upbeat voice. But he kind of wished he hadn't.

Lincoln responded with a nod and an unenthusiastic, "Hey."

"How are you feeling today?" He asked even though he knew the answer.

Lincoln just grunted.

Clyde looked down at the ground and pondered what to do. He hated seeing his best friend and his family so miserable. He searched through all the years of therapy he'd endured. He'd never had to talk about something like the death of a family member, so this was out of his league.

"Lincoln, you're my best friend in the entire world. I've been there with you through thick and thin. I'd do anything for you, and I'll always be there for you. I know it's only been a week and no amount of time will ever make you forget about Lisa but- "

"What are we doing, Clyde?"

"Huh?" Clyde was surprised. This was the most Lincoln had spoken to him in the last week. "What do you mean?"

"I mean what are we doing? What are we waiting for? What chance is there for us?" Tears began to form in Lincoln's eyes just as they had all week. His sisters all watched, and Luna reached over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't understand?"

"Don't you get it, Clyde? Lisa was our last hope. She was the only person who could've been able to stop this…this… _disease_. And now she's dead. We couldn't protect her. So now what are we going to do? Are we just going to live in this school for the rest of our lives? Is this all there is? Living off of food scraps, scavenging for supplies, killing the people who used to look after us? What's the point?"

Clyde was taken aback. He'd never seen Lincoln so down. Clyde then sat down and told Lincoln to look at him.

Lincoln didn't. But Clyde decided to talk anyway.

"Lincoln, throughout all the time I've known you, I've never seen you give up on anything."

"So," he said. "How can you compare what we've been through before the world went to hell to what's happening now?"

Clyde considered this. "What I'm saying is, you can't give up now. You're Lincoln Loud. The man of action. Always ready. Always prepared. I get that you're upset, you have every right to be. I'll always be here if you need to talk. And not only me, you still have your sisters who are alive. You're not a quitter Lincoln. Lisa, Leni, Lori and your parents wouldn't want any of you to give up. You've got to live Lincoln. Live for all of them."

Lincoln slightly nodded.

"And don't just live for them, live for those who are still alive." He pointed to Lincoln's other sisters.

"Okay," said Lincoln, with another slow nod.

Clyde smiled. _Small steps._ He thought to himself. Soon Lincoln and his family would be back to their fun, animated selves.

* * *

Stan walked down the hall carrying a bag of food, nothing too fancy it was mostly chips and other random assortments of snacks. As well as a bottle of water. He looked around the hall making sure nobody else was around and he soon reached a storage closet. There were two kids leaning against a wall holding spears guarding it. Their names were Todd and Clay. They were both the same age as Stan but not as strong or as tall as him.

"Yo, Stan," said Todd. "Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing. I just need to go in there really quick," he nodded towards the door they were guarding.

They both looked at the door, confused.

"Why?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Actually, I will worry about it," Todd straightened up, but Stan still had a head's worth of height on him. "These people are in here for a reason ya know. So if you want in, you've got to have a darn good reason."

Stan just stood over Todd while Clay held back, unsure of what to do.

Stan held up his bag and a key. "I'm just doing what Duke asked me to do," he lied.

"And that is?"

"Feeding one of the prisoners," he answered. And before Todd could say anything Stan continued. "There's a very pretty girl in there. A girl that Duke has a crush on."

Both Todd and Clay looked surprised and still confused.

"He only keeps her in there just because if anyone saw her out and about they'd probably want to hurt her for what The Zealots did to some of the kids here. So in the mean time Duke wants me to talk to her and warm up to her. Gather information about her. Plus, she has a brother who's worried about her, so he wants to ease his nerves and make sure she's all right."

Todd looked hesitant to relent his gaze on Stan. "Then why doesn't Duke just come here himself?"

"It's too dangerous. So instead his cowardly ass sent me."

"Okay fine," said Todd, as he stepped back so Stan could get past.

"Also, don't tell anyone what I just told you. Duke told me not to tell anyway but I guess he didn't count on your nosy butts."

Todd looked offended, but he nodded.

Stan unlocked the door and stepped into the room. Todd didn't know it but when Stan told him all that stuff about Duke liking Mary he was actually talking about himself.

He took out a small flashlight and flipped it on. He shone it to the back of the room and spotted Mary chained to a wall. She was surrounded by her fellow zealots and looked hopelessly sad. The other kids paid no mind to Stan. They were all malnourished and lost in thought. Stan thought it was cruel what they were doing to the kids. After all it was Zeke who probably filled their heads with lies which caused them to kill some of the elementary school kids.

Stan still couldn't believe it. Kids killing kids. It just didn't seem possible. Kids shouldn't be killing each other. They should be working together to fight the real enemy: the adults- or the greens as Duke tried to make everyone call them. Then another thought entered Stan's mind. They didn't just kill a few kids. They very well may have killed all of them. Because Lisa Loud was dead. The only person who could've saved the world.

Mary barely lifted her head when Stan shone the light on her.

She tried to speak. But was too weak.

Stan hurried over to her.

"Mary. Are you okay?" he asked. Even though he already knew the answer.

"Stan?" Mary's voice was hoarse.

"Drink this, slowly," Stan lifted his water bottle and let Mary take a few swigs.

"Thank you," she said, and sniffed. "How's Matt doing?"

"He's fine, although he's very worried about you."

Mary put her head back down and began to cry. "I'm so sorry. For everything. I looked up to Zeke. To me, he was a protector. He kept us safe we thought he'd always keep us safe. But…"

Stan put a hand on Mary's shoulder. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen. You were just scared."

"And now the world is doomed," she said. Thinking back to something Duke had told them once they were all chained up to the wall.

He told them that because of them, the world was doomed. That a girl, a special girl with vastly superior knowledge was dead. She was the only person who could've found a cure for the disease. Some of the zealots laughed while Mary was still shaken over what had happened.

Stan couldn't think of a response. While Mary went on.

"What hope is there? We've ruined everything. I'm going to die, you're going to die, my little brother is going to die, all of us are going to die."

"That's not going to happen." Stan told her.

"How do you know?"

"Because, as long as I'm around I'm not going to let my sister die. Same with you and your brother. If we have something to fight for, there will always be hope. And I hope to see my sister and all the other kids at this school live full, long lives."

Mary wanted to smile. She loved the confidence Stan gave off. She felt like she could trust him with her life. Now though, she had to ask him a question she'd been dreading.

"What's going to happen to us?"

Stan had no answer. "I don't know? I'll try to convince Duke to let you go. You're no threat. You're just a kid."

Mary began to cry again. "I'm so scared, Stan. If anything happens to me, I don't know what my brother will do."

Stan thought about his sister and if anything were to ever happen to him, how upset she'd be. "Don't worry. Like I said, I'm going to get you out of here."

Just then the door opened, and the room was filled with even more light.

Stan instantly stood up and looked back to see Joey entering the room carrying a flashlight, with a few more guards by his side.

"What the hell are you doing here, Stan?" Joey asked.

"I'm just checking our prisoners. Making sure they're all here and accounted for."

Joey didn't believe him. "Really? Because Todd told me Duke sent you here to check up on a certain someone." He nodded towards Mary.

"I'm just making sure she's okay."

"Riiiight," Joey said, as he lifted his chin up and down. Then he noticed the bag and the bottle of water. "Well what your doing here won't matter in a little bit, because I've got orders to take these Zealots to the auditorium"

"Why?" Stan asked. His voice sounded unsettled.

"You'll see," Joey said with a smile.

* * *

 _Kill them all. I'm going to kill them all._ That's what Lana had been spouting all week after Lisa's death. But her older siblings thought she was just venting. They didn't know she'd been conspiring with other kids to sneak out and kill Grease Monkey and whatever other adult that got in her way.

She'd tried to convince Tom the boy scout to help her craft a bow and when she'd told him she wanted to kill an adult, he'd refused. Stating that she was too young to have a bow. So instead Lana had decided that she was going to sneak out with a few other kids and kill Grease Monkey without anyone noticing. She just needed a chance. She could get Lola to convince her _loyal subjects,_ as she called them, to help her with their mission. She held her wrench and stroked it. Imagining herself beating Greasy Monkey to death with it. At the end of the day she'd be the one smiling.

Just then there were shouts coming from the halls and several kids got up and made their way to the gym doors to see what was going on. The Loud siblings included. Their blood ran cold when they saw _them_. Being escorted through the hallway were the few remaining Zealots. They all looked cold and lifeless.

At the lead of the group was Joey, with Stan standing next to him speaking frantically. Constantly asking what they were planning on doing with the Zealots.

"What's going on?" A kid asked.

"Duke wants to have a little chat with these killers." Joey told him. "So gather up everyone thirteen and older and have Trinity and a few others watch the younger kids."

All the kids started talking at once. While others followed the guards.

The Loud siblings all looked at each other.

"Should we follow them?" Luan asked.

"I guess," Luna replied. Then she looked at Lincoln who stood with the younger Louds behind him. "Lincoln, you stay here and watch Lucy, Lana, Lola, and Lily. We're gonna go see what's going on."

Lincoln nodded and led the younger siblings away.

"What do you thinks going on?" Lynn asked Luna as they followed the group.

"I don't know? I think something bad is about to happen."

Lincoln sat his siblings down.

"Why did they let those monsters out?" Lola asked Lincoln.

"I don't know?" Lincoln told her. And then he looked to his friend Clyde and whispered. "Clyde, I can only think of one reason those kids would be out."

"Do you think Duke's going to let them go?"

"No. I think he's going to have them… executed."

Clyde gasped.

"What is it? What did he just say to you?" Lucy demanded.

"Uh…nothing." Clyde said, with a tremble in his voice.

"It doesn't sound like nothing."

"Don't worry about it Lucy." Lincoln interjected. "Now I want you all to stay here with Lily and stay close to Clyde. I have to go see something." Lincoln turned to Clyde. "Can you watch them while I'm gone?"

Clyde nodded. His whole body was shaking. "Sure, buddy."

Lincoln thanked him and began to walk towards the gym doors.

"Wait!" Lucy called after him. But Lincoln just repeated for them to stay put.

None of the older kids tried to stop Lincoln. They were all too interested in what was going on to notice the white-haired boy.

Soon, it was just the younger kids and Trinity in the gym. All the older kids left despite Joey telling a few of them to stay behind.

Lana looked over to where some other kids were lingering about. She noticed Timmy and he noticed her. They were both thinking the same thing.

Lana told Clyde that she wanted to go play with Timmy and she brought Lola with her as they both went over to him and a few other kids.

 _I've got to see what they're planning on doing to those fiends._ Lucy thought to herself. Unfortunately, she'd waited too long to leave during the commotion and now Trinity was standing next to the door to make sure none of the other kids would try to leave. There was also the fact that Clyde was keeping his eyes on them. Lucy had to think of something. That's when she noticed a vent cover that was low to the ground. She could easily unscrew the screws on it and crawl into it. The only question was, how was she going to do it without Clyde or Trinity noticing? She looked around the room and that's when she saw them. A short, freckle-faced boy with orange hair. She knew him as _Rocky Spokes_. She'd had a crush on him once upon a time, but it had been a while since she'd spoken to him. And her new friend Grace. An idea formed in her head. She slowly walked up to Rocky who was sitting only a few feet away from Grace. They were both trying to read comic books, but she could tell that their minds were still filled with questions about what had just transpired in the hallway.

Rocky had his eyes focused on him comic book. He didn't even notice Lucy creep up to him.

"Hey, Rocky." A gloomy voice called out to him which made him jump.

He looked up to see Lucy standing in front of him looking down at him with a hint of a smile on her face. His heart began to beat faster as butterflies filled his stomach.

"Oh… uh… hey Lucy. What's up?" Sweat had enveloped his forehead in a matter of seconds and he brought a hand up to wipe his face.

"Nothing," The black-haired girl said as she put both hands behind her back and lifted a foot and supported it with the tip of her shoe to make it look like she was really interested in the boy. The truth was she really did like Rocky, it's just that she'd forgotten all about him since the blast. But now, she needed him. "I just need you to do me a little favor. If you don't mind?"

"Sure," he said excitedly as he closed the comic book and began to stand up. "Whatcha need?"

"You see that boy over there?" Lucy said, pointing to Clyde. "I need you to distract him for a minute."

"Why?"

"Just because."

"How?"

Lucy thought for a moment and then had an idea. She told Rocky what to say to Clyde and he nodded. Then Lucy went over to Grace.

"Hello Lucy," she said cheerfully. "How are you?"

"Not too good," Lucy answered.

Grace frowned. "I'm sorry about your sister."

"I am too." Lucy paused and then continued to speak. "Anyway, I need you to distract Trinity for me please."

"Why?"

"Don't worry about it. Just do it please."

Grace looked confused for a moment. "What do you need me to do?"

Lucy thought about it for a moment. "Just cry, I guess."

"Sure thing. I'm great at fake-crying. It's how I always used to get my way with my parents." Grace had a corrupt grin on her face. Which made Lucy want to grin too.

"Okay then. Go do your thing."

Rocky and Grace got up and went up to their unsuspecting chumps.

"Excuse me, Clyde is it?"

Clyde looked to see Rocky standing next to him holding a notebook and a pencil.

"Yeah, hey. How's it going Rocky?"

"Good, good. Listen, I'm sorry to bother you but I heard you used to have a crush on one of the Loud sisters."

Clyde's heart sank as he remembered Lori. He thought about her smiling and laughing as she chattered away on her phone- mostly with her boyfriend. As well as how nice she smelled and how angelic her voice sounded. But then he snapped out of it.

"I still do man," he said. Not even death would stop him from loving Lori.

"Great!" Rocky smiled. "I was just wondering, from one guy who likes a Loud sister to another, if you could help me write a poem for Lucy."

Clyde smiled. "You came to the right person my man."

Now Grace just needed to distract Trinity.

The little girl began to cry and went up to Trinity. Who instantly went into full-care mode.

"Grace, sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked as she knelt and rested a hand on Grace's shoulder.

"I'm scared," was all Grace said and then she began to cry harder.

Trinity offered Grace words of reassurance and caressed the acting child.

Now was Lucy's chance. Lana and Lola were talking with a few other kids while others were looking at Grace as she sobbed. Lucy was like a shadow as she made her way towards the vent. Quickly unscrewing the screws on the vent cover. Once she was done she crawled in and placed the cover back on to make it look like no one had messed with it.

 _Just a quick trip._ Lucy thought to herself. _I_ _just got to see what they're going to do to those Zealots and then I'll be back in no time._

 **3.**

The older Loud sisters stood close to the stage in the auditorium. Lincoln stood at the back. Standing right beside him was Rusty and Tucker, along with Chandler and Andy. Apparently, their curiosity had gotten the better of them too.

"What's going on?" Chandler asked, impatiently. "Rusty can you see anything?"

"I don't know, man. They're all just talking."

"About what?"

"I don't know? I can't hear them."

Everyone was chatting excitedly. Most of them were speaking to the person next to them while others were yelling up to the stage.

On the stage was Duke, standing tall with his spear in one hand. Next to him was Stan. He seemed to be pleading with Duke, and beside them was Joey, clutching his axe proudly. Also on the stage were the Zealots. The older kids from the church who had attacked several of the kids at the school.

Duke suddenly spoke up and everyone went quiet. Except a few kids who were still whispering intently.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why I've brought these killers out on the stage." There was some more murmuring among the kids, but Duke continued. "As you know. We were recently attacked by another group of kids who were lead by an older kid named Zeke." Some kids in the crowd nodded. "Because of their actions we lost eleven souls to their rampage, including a girl by the name of _Lisa Loud._ "

Lincoln felt a lump in his throat and he inhaled a sharp intake of air through his nostrils. At the front of the crowd Luan sniffled. Luna put a hand on her shoulder. And Lynn clenched her fists tightly.

"For those of you who didn't know. Lisa Loud was a very, very, _very_ smart girl. Smarter than all of us put together one hundred times over."

There was more whispering throughout the kids. On the stage were six of the remaining zealots. Five of them were stone-faced and remorseless. Except for one who appeared to be crying. It was a girl with dark-blonde hair.

"Lisa was the only person who could've put a stop to the disease by finding a cure. But now, that day might never come all because of these killers." Stan pointed his spear at all the kids. As he did that he wished Zeke the Zealot was still alive so he could execute him in front of his followers as well. But instead he was dead too. Apparently, Lisa had killed him by shooting him with a ray gun. Unfortunately, the ray gun was broken because it was dropped and cracked when it hit the floor. _Some ray gun that wa_ s. "So, because of their actions I have decided to have them all executed."

The auditorium went quiet for only a fraction of a second.

"What?" Stan cried. As cries of terror and cheers from the other kids filled the auditorium. He quickly made his way towards Duke who held out his spear so that the tip was pressed against Stan's chest

He ordered some of his guards to haul him off the stage and then he ordered a few others to bring the first prisoner up to a chopping block that had been placed on the stage.

One of the guards unlocked the chains that bound a Zealot's wrists. The kid made no attempt to resist as he was brought up to the block. He was too weak to fight.

Duke then ordered the kids to hold the kid down so Joey could behead him. The kids looked at each other and seemed hesitant to do as they were told. Duke rolled his eyes, shoved them aside and held the kid down himself.

"Any last words?" He asked the kid.

"I don't regret what I did. Zeke knew what he was talking about."

"Whatever you say."

Duke then looked at Joey and nodded. Joey nodded too and readied his axe. He wasn't sure if it was the right axe to use for an execution, but he'd taken heads off greens with it before, so it would have to do.

He raised his axe and there were moans and groans that became gasps coming from the crowd. It reminded him of when a roller coaster reached the top of a slope and was about to go down. And with all his might he brought the axe down on the boy's neck with devastating accuracy, completely severing his head.

The gasps became cries as kids all throughout the auditorium jumped, screamed, ran out of the room or almost passed out.

Lincoln stepped off a chair he was standing on to get a better view. His heart was beating fast.

"Holy shit! Did you see that?" Chandler asked, almost laughing as he turned to Andy.

"Yeah, that was awesome!" Andy cheered.

Lincoln turned to Rusty who was shielding his eyes with his hands. The very sight of blood would cause Rusty to pass out, so there was no way he was going to watch this.

"This isn't right," Lincoln heard a voice say. He looked and saw Tucker shaking his head. "Why are they doing this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Lincoln wanted to shout. "They killed Lisa. Because of them the world is doomed. They deserve this."

Tucker looked shocked, but he didn't argue. Not even Lincoln could believe what he'd just said. He didn't know if these kids deserved this. But the bottom line was: Lisa, there only beacon of hope, was dead.

At the front of the crowd Luna put a hand to her mouth. She then looked to her siblings. Luan was crying and had her hands pressed against her face. Luna wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. Standing right beside her was Lynn. Her fists were still clenched, but she seemed to have a satisfied look on her face. It almost looked as though she was trying not to smile.

Meanwhile, Maggie, who was standing right behind Luan had her mouth slightly agape. She couldn't believe what was happening. She was slightly trembling. Her dull, impassive front was no longer evident. She saw that Luan was upset and if Luan was upset, then so was she.

Stan was trying to break free from the kids who'd dragged him away, but they were too strong.

Ethan and his friends all looked around nervously at each other. Not sure if it was their place to speak up against what was happening. Ethan then turned to look at his friend named Lexi who didn't seem to be too bothered by the execution.

Duke dragged the body a few yards away since no one else would. And Joey emptied a basket that was placed in front of the chopping block to catch the severed head and keep it from rolling away. Duke then turned back to the Zealots who, besides the girl who was a sobbing mess, were all expressionless.

"All right. Who's next?"

 **4.**

"Tag you're it!"

"No, you're it!"

Lana, Lola, and a few other kids were pretending to play tag. It was all part of Lana's plan.

A few yards away. Clyde was busy talking to Rocky. While Trinity had managed to get Grace to calm down.

Lana was it. She tagged one of the kids and it was up to him now. He ran over to Trinity and touched her.

"Tag, you're it!"

Trinity smiled a soft, warm smile. "I'm not playing, silly."

The kids touched her again. "You're it!"

"I'm sorry, Cody. But I can't play with you right now. I'm trying to cheer Grace up."

The kid touched Trinity one more time and again, screamed that she was it. Then he and a few other kids ran out of the gym.

"Hey, wait!" Trinity called after them as she got up and began to chase them. Before she left she told Clyde and another girl named Penelope to watch the other kids.

"Okay," they both said.

"That takes care of Trinity," Lana said to the other kids. "Now we just have to get rid of Clyde and Penelope."

She looked over to Lily. Who appeared to have a certain look on her face.

 _That face._ Lana knew that face. It appeared every time Lily was about to do something everyone in her family dreaded more than anything. Lana quickly ran over to Lily and grabbed her without Clyde noticing.

Then the sound of Lily defecating made Lana want to barf. She wasn't grossed out by a lot of things. But Lily's poop was something she feared more than any mud puddle, insect, or booger.

All the other kids around Lana held their noses. Lana went over to her backpack and took out a fishing rod. Tied Lily's diaper around it and aimed it towards Clyde. She really hated that she was about to do something terrible to her only brother's best friend. But she had to get him out of the gym somehow. She bent her arms held the fishing line back pressed a button on the rod and sent the diaper flying just as Rocky began to walk away from Clyde. And Clyde was completely showered in feces.

"What the?" He was shocked and confused at first but then he was quickly overcome with panic, and nausea.

Rocky stared at him in complete disgust. "Whoa."

Clyde shot up from his sitting position and began to scream and cry. "What is this stuff?" He suddenly began to throw up and ran out of the gym as fast as he could. Rocky also ran out of the gym to get away from the smell.

Lana was instantly filled with regret. What had she done to poor Clyde? After all he'd done for them. She remembered the time she was stuck in a tree and Clyde climbed up and saved her despite him being afraid of heights. And he also helped Lincoln rescue them when the adults went nuts. He'd helped keep them all safe and escorted them all the way home with Lincoln. Just then another kid ran into the gym. It was one of Lola's loyal subjects.

"Lana we've spotted Grease Monkey. He's outside, and he's still holding your dead pets."

Lana's regret was replaced with rage. Clyde could wash himself and get clean. But Grease Monkey was a stain that needed to be eliminated. She then looked towards where Penelope was standing. She saw that Clyde was covered in poop as he ran past her which made her sick. So she was busy barfing in a trash can.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go."

Lana and a few other kids began to make their way out of the gym. Before they left she checked all the kids that she and Timmy had convinced to join her: Lola looked nervous. There was also Stan's sister Sally, as well as a girl named Grace.

They were all heading out the door when a voice called out.

"Hey, wait! Where do you think you're going?"

"Dang it." Lana said to herself as she looked back to see that Penelope had finished throwing up and was making her way towards them. "Uh, The bathroom?"

"I'm sorry but I can't let you leave," she said. "If you need to go to the bathroom then I guess I can escort you one at a- "

Lana quickly sprang into action. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a rope. Before Penelope knew what was going on Lana had her hogtied.

"Hey! What in the world?" Penelope cried out.

"Sorry," said Lana. "But I can't have anyone get in my way. I'm going to kill that freaking Grease Monkey and no one is going to stop me." She turned to everyone and told them to put her in the gym's storage closet and to hurry up before anyone else saw them.

They rushed down the halls. Lana was sure she had a wicked grin on her face.

 _Just get out, kill Grease Monkey and come back in. It's a simple as that._ Sure, her siblings were going to be absolutely pissed when they found out what she had done. But if she could kill Grease Monkey then her siblings could keep her under their watch for the rest of her life for all she cared. It would be worth it.

They then reached a set of locked doors close to where Grease Monkey had been spotted.

"Are you all ready?" Lana asked. As she reached in her tool belt for a lock pick. They all nodded excitedly. Except for Lola who was shaking uncontrollably. Lana noticed this. "Don't worry Lola, your loyal subjects will protect you."

That didn't make Lola feel better at all. She was scared. But there was no way she was going to let Lana do this by herself. Her loyal subjects would only listen to her.

Lana finally got the lock open and removed the chains that secured the doors and they were all greeted by sunlight.

"Let's do this!" Lana howled. She took out her monkey wrench and decided to leave her backpack by the door. They weren't going to be gone that long. They all rushed out the door and looked all around the school yard.

"There!" someone shouted.

They all looked and saw a tall, greasy-haired figure. Standing next to a few other greens.

"Grease Monkey!" another kid shouted.

Lana tightened her grip on her wrench as Grease Monkey leered at them. She wasn't going to be intimidated. Instead, she rushed at him which prompted the other kids to do the same.

Grease Monkey seemed taken aback by the number of kids. There was around twenty of them. He and the other adults began to run away.

"Where do you think you're going?" Lana screamed. As they chased Grease Monkey and the other adults into the street.

Lola was screaming for Lana to slow down. But the pounding sound in Lana's head was too loud for her to hear anything. As they charged further and further away from the elementary school some kids stopped, far too terrified to continue and began to retreat.

"Cowards!" Timmy screamed at the retreating kids.

Lana was too focused on Grease Monkey to notice. She didn't care how many kids deserted her, she was going to kill him no matter what.

Before she knew it, they were over a hundred yards away from the school.

"Lana stop, it's not worth it," Lola continued to scream.

Lana turned to her twin, her face was twisted with anger, irritation and fury. "Then leave! Get the heck out of here! I don't need you! I don't need anyone! I can do this myself!"

Lola and a few other kids were shocked at Lana's outburst. It looked like Lola was about to cry. Lana realized she was too hard on Lola but now was not the time to worry about that. She had a score to settle. She looked back and saw that Grease Monkey had stopped and was staring at them intently.

"Did you get tired of running you coward?" Lana yelled as she marched towards him. "You're going to pay for what you did to my pets." Grease Monkey still stood frozen. "Go ahead and stand there. It's just going to make my job easier."

As Lana got closer she noticed a smile form on Grease Monkey's green, dirty, rotten face. Which unnerved her. "What's so funny?" Her voice started to shake. "I'm going to knock that smile right off your- "

Lola suddenly screamed.

Lana looked back at her and then back at Grease Monkey. She noticed movement in the corners of her eyes. She suddenly noticed that they were surrounded by houses. And in those houses. Several greens began to emerge from doors, windows, open garages, and cars. There were way too many to count.

Lana was hit with a wave of panic. What was she thinking? Leading her twin sister and all these kids out in the open like this? She was only six-years-old. A little over seventy-two months. A little over three-hundred twelve weeks. A little over two-thousand one hundred ninety days. Around fifty-two thousand five hundred sixty hours. A little over Three million one hundred fifty-three thousand six hundred minutes. A little over one hundred eighty-nine million two hundred sixteen thousand seconds. That was all that separated her from birth to this moment. And it was all about to be wasted just because of one stupid mistake.

She turned around and screamed for them to run and they all bolted back towards the school.

 **5.**

Lucy began to crawl as fast as she could. She saw what had happened. They'd killed the kid. She wasn't really upset since he was part of the group that killed Lisa. But it still bothered her seeing his head get cut clean off. She also saw how her siblings reacted. Lincoln seemed bothered at first, stepping off a chair he was standing on momentarily and then getting back on it to continue watching what was going on. She also saw her sisters. Luna looked kind of disturbed. Luan looked very disturbed. While Lynn didn't look disturbed at all.

Lucy felt water on her face. Tears. She ignored them and continued to crawl through the vents. The world was always a fucked-up place, even before the blast. But now it way worse. Adults killing kids. Kids killing adults. Kids killing kids. Why was this happening? That was the trillion-dollar question. Lucy knew that money was worthless now. It was nothing more than useless paper that before the apocalypse had been used to buy useless stuff.

Useless. All of it was useless. Her poetry journal, her bust of Edwin, her books, her coffin that she used to sleep in, her knowledge of death.

Useless all of it.

She then thought of her sister's possessions: Lori's cellphone, her golf clubs, and whatever else she used to keep sealed off in her room. Leni's clothes, her beauty products, her sunglasses that she always had on her head. Her knowledge of everything fashion and beauty related. Luna's instruments. However, many of those loud, obnoxious things there were. Luan's jokes, gags, and props. Including her ventriloquist dummy Mr. Coconuts. Lynn's sports gear, equipment and trophies. Lincoln's video games, comics, action figures and coin collection. Lana's reptiles, tools, and whatever other gross things she owned. Lola's pageant gowns, her crowns, her beauty products, and portraits of herself. Lisa's science experiments, her studies, her creations. Lily's toys, her blanket and stuffed animals.

All of it was useless. Nothing was going to get them out of this situation. Nothing at all. So what was the point of even going on? Lucy thought it would be easier if she just tried to kill herself. Maybe go grab a blade somewhere and slit her wrists. Or throw herself off the roof of the school.

The walls of the vent suddenly felt like they were closing in. Lucy began to panic. She's never been claustrophobic before. So why was it happening now? She quickly took out her screwdriver and opened a vent cover. She was suddenly in a hallway. Her head was spinning and so were the walls. She then realized that she was spinning on the heels of her feet watching the hallway and walls of Royal Woods Elementary School turn just as the world was always turning. It made her realize that no matter what happened the world would never stop turning. Not for her. Not for the dead. Not for anyone. She felt so small. If it weren't for her sisters would anyone notice if she just disappeared? She thought about Rocky and Grace. None of them had noticed her until she'd gone up to them. If they were gone then who else was left? Nobody.

Lucy ran up a flight of stairs and was suddenly on the roof of the school. The air was cool and refreshing. She breathed in a fresh gulp of air and suddenly relaxed. She looked up into the sky. The sun was shining. She then began to think some more. The sun was ninety-three million miles away from Earth, yet we could always feel the heat whenever it was on us. It gave us life and it could easily take it away. Just by dying.

It reminded her of Lisa. She was their sun, she'd given them all something to live for just by existing. And now she was dead. Yet, the world still turned.

Lucy sighed. What was she thinking. Was she really about to kill herself? She remembered when she was in the basement of the school and was chased by the grown-ups. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to live. Then she thought about the pain she and her siblings all felt when they found out Lori and Leni were dead. And when Lisa died as well. There was no way she was going to inflict that kind of pain on her siblings again by ending her own life.

She took in another breath and stared out into the distance. Imagining a future where everyone was happy, healthy, and living life to the fullest.

"I want to live." Lucy said to herself. And she felt a smile appear on her face. "I will live."

A few minutes later Lucy was about head back into the school when she noticed movement below. A few adults were fleeing. She recognized one of them. Grease Monkey.

Lucy was filled with red hot rage for a moment and then she noticed something else.

Kids?

 _No, it can't be._

Kids! They all looked younger than her. And that's when she realized that one of them was Lana. Followed by Lola.

"What the heck?" Lucy shouted. She quickly ran into the school. Down the stairs and out the door where they most likely left through. There was no time to go get her older siblings. It was up to her.

* * *

Clyde reached the bathroom and began to wash himself furiously.

Rocky went up to him to see if he was all right. "Dude, what the heck happened?"

"I don't know?" Clyde cried. "I smell like poop!"

"Yeah, you do." Rocky was trying not to laugh when suddenly he noticed Lucy down the hall leave the school through an open door.

"What the heck?" he said, and he ran down the hallway after her. Clyde was too busy trying to clean himself to notice.

Rocky soon reached the door and opened it to see Lucy running down a street as if she was following something. Rocky was hesitant to go after her. But if he did, she'd probably think he was the bravest kids ever. So he did just that.

 **6.**

Trinity walked through the hall escorting Cody and the other kids who had run out of the gym back back to it.

"I can't believe you all just ran out like that. You really should know better." She scolded the kids. Then once they reached the gym, her heart skipped a beat when she noticed that all the kids in the gym were gone.

"What the? Where is everyone?" She screamed, looking around frantically. Cody and the other kids looked around, pretending to be confused by the everyone's disappearance as well.

Just then they heard someone knocking on a door of the gym's storage room. Trinity hurried over to it and opened it. Surprised to find Penelope tied up.

"The kids!" she screamed. "You've got to stop them?

"What? Why? Where are they?" Trinity asked, as she untied Penelope.

"They all went outside. Lana persuaded everyone to help her kill Grease Monkey."

Trinity's face went pale as she shot up and pulled Penelope to her feet. "Go tell the other's in the auditorium. I'll go after the kids."

"By yourself?"

"Yes, by myself. Now go!" Trinity cried. She then turned to Cody and the other kids. "You four go follow Penelope to the gym!"

Trinity's voice was so urgent that the kids did as they were told without question. They were also beginning to wonder if they'd done the right thing by helping Lana out by distracting Trinity.

As they all ran out of the gym. Trinity went over to where she normally slept and dug around through her backpack until she found a large Bowie knife.

 _It would have to do._ She thought as she hurried out a set of doors at the opposite side of the gym.

 **7.**

Joey brought his axe down on another Zealot. Sending another wave of shouts through the auditorium. The previously executed Zealot was just as remorseless as all the others. As if they truly believed what they had done to the elementary school kids was right.

 _What did Zeke do to them?_ Duke thought, as he emptied the basket containing the Zealot's head. It was the fifth one they had executed. The only one who was left was a girl who was sobbing uncontrollably.

It broke Duke's heart. It reminded of a memory he had repressed. A memory of a dark night several years ago. It reminded him of his sister as she was… No. He couldn't think of that now. He had to focus on executing this Zealot. He just couldn't risk keeping her alive. For all he knew those tears could be crocodile tears. He set the basket back on the ground beside the chopping block as Joey dragged her up.

She was begging. Babbling incoherently even. A few feet away Stan was wriggling and squirming. Desperately trying to escape from the grasp of the two kids that held him back.

Duke held her down and Joey raised his axe.

"NO!" a small voice cried out.

Everyone looked to see a kid running down an aisle to the stage.

"Where did he come from?" Duke asked.

Suddenly, a few more kid appeared. Duke recognized them as the kids that the Colts and the Zealots brought with them. Then Sarah ran into the room.

"I'm sorry," she said. "They were all getting restless I couldn't stop them."

Since the new kids had arrived. The group from Indiana slept in the auditorium while the kids from Zeke's group slept in the home economics room. Which is where they'd sent a lot of kids to wait while the execution was happening.

The kid that was running up to the stage was Mary's brother, Matt.

"Don't hurt my sister!" he cried as he ran up to her and held her.

"Your sister did a bad thing, kid. She has to pay." Joey coldly told him.

"No! I won't let you!"

Joey looked at Duke who seemed unsure of what to do. Duke saw the pain in Matt's eyes. It was the same pain that the Loud siblings had as they cried over their sister.

Duke then thought back to his own personal pain. The pain of that day he lost his own sister. He couldn't possibly inflict that kind of pain on this kid, could he?

He then shook his head. "Get out of the way kid! Your sister must die!" he yelled, which just upset Matt even more.

"No please! She's all I have!" The kid was crying, which made Mary cry even harder.

Duke ordered one of his guards to drag Matt away from Mary. But he just shook his head. His eyes seemed to be filling with tears too.

Stan was crying too. He then felt one of the kids loosen his grip on his arm. He looked and saw that this kid was crying as well.

Stan took this chance and broke his arm free and elbowed the kid in the stomach and then punched the other kid who was holding him right in the nose.

Before anyone could do anything, Stan rushed over and grabbed a spear the other crying kid was holding. The kid made no attempt to try and hold on to the weapon as Stan shoved Joey out of the way and pointed the tip of the spear at Duke who instantly backed away.

"What the fuck?" Duke yelled as the kids in the auditorium began to prattle all at once.

"I won't let you do this!" Stan yelled. "Can't you see how sorry she is? She knows what Zeke and the other did was bad and you shouldn't punish her for something _they_ did."

Joey took a step towards Stan who then pointed the spear at him. "Don't take another step you piece of shit!"

"Stan, come on. We can't trust her." Duke said as he took a step towards Stan. "She's dangerous."

Stan pointed the spear back at him. "She's not dangerous, Duke. She's just a kid like you and me."

"A kid who was part of a group that killed our kids!"

"The kids who killed our kids are dead now! It's over, okay. Now please I'm asking you as a friend, don't kill her. Please."

"Why are you doing this, really?" Duke asked, taking another step towards Stan. "What's you're motive? Are you trying to be a hero to her? Do you like her? Are you hoping that if you save her, she'll be your girlfriend? Maybe even suck your dick?"

"Dude!" Stan barked. "I'm doing this because she still has family. Someone who cares about her. Someone who loves her. And if we kill her that'll make us no better than them."

Duke made fart sound with his lips. "Oh please, spare me that cliché bullshit. If we kill her then she's dead and we won't have to worry about her possibly hurting anyone."

"If you kill her you'll be doing a lot more harm than good." Stan nodded towards Matt. "This isn't like the other Zealots who didn't have anyone anymore. If you kill Mary, you might as well kill Matt too. Because She's the only thing that keeps him going. She's his only beacon of light and hope just as Lisa was to her family. If we extinguish that light, then that makes us killers too. Think about it Duke. That pain of losing someone you love and care about. You wouldn't wish that on anyone else, would you?"

Duke was at a loss for words. Stan knew about his sister. All those years ago when he lost her that fateful night. The pain, the misery, the sorrow, the absolute feeling of hopelessness.

Duke turned to Joey with sad eyes. Joey knew what he was thinking too. Duke had only ever told a handful of people about why he and his family moved to Royal Woods several years ago.

Then he turned back to Stan. "Okay, fine. We'll spare her. But if anything happens to anyone else because of her, it's on your head.

Stan smiled and was about to thank Duke when Lynn cried out.

"No, she deserves to die."

They all looked to see Lynn clambering onto the stage. Followed Luna and Luan who were struggling to climb up the front of the stage.

"Wait!" Stan cried as Lynn pried a machete away from a surprised kid.

She ignored him and shoved him aside. Stan nearly lost his balance as he stumbled forward but caught himself. He turned back to see Lynn was trying to drag Matt away from Mary. Joey tried to intervene while Duke stood still. He didn't want to take any chances with Lynn and her machete. Stan hurried over and tried to help Joey get Lynn away from Matt and Mary. But she shoved Joey aside and he tripped over his axe handle which just left Stan to face Lynn momentarily. He wrapped his arms around Lynn and she struggled to break free from him. Now Luna and Luan were on the stage and trying prying Stan away from Lynn. They managed to succeed but Stan quickly broke free from their clutches. He shoved them back with such force that they fell backwards and tumbled into other kids who were now rushing the stage.

Stan looked back and caught a glimpse of Lynn's fist flying right at him. A wave of pain coursed through his face as he was sent stumbling backwards. He dropped his spear, brought his hands to his face and fell on his butt.

Now he was filled with rage. An image of him picking up his spear and impaling Lynn with it flashed through his mind. He grabbed the spear and shot to his feet. Ready to take on Lynn again. But once he was up he saw that she was no longer focusing on trying to get to Mary. Instead, she had her back to her and was looking out into the aisle.

The rage quickly left Stan's body and he loosened his grip on the spear. He turned to see a girl and a few other kids running into the gym yelling for help.

Duke couldn't remember the girls name who was running down the aisle, but her screaming seemed urgent.

"What's wrong?" he shouted over the girl's cries.

The girl was crying and babbling incoherently.

"Calm down and tell us what's wrong."

"The kids!" she wailed. "The kids that were in the gym!"

"What about them?"

"They're all gone!"

"What?" Duke cried. As everyone in the auditorium began to huddle around the girl.

"Lana convinced them all to follow her outside and kill Grease Monkey!"

"All of them?" Duke asked.

"Yes, all of them."

A wave of panic washed over everyone in the gym. Including the Loud siblings, and Stan. A lot of them had siblings who were most likely in danger.

Lynn swore and hurried off the stage, jumping off the edge without any hesitation. Her siblings all followed her.

Stan forgot all about Mary and ran after them.

Duke ordered a guard to stay and watch Matt and Mary and then turned to Joey and told him that they had to hurry and save the kids.

Lincoln had heard everything. He followed his sisters, who all had timorous expressions on their faces, out of the auditorium.

They all stopped by the storage room where all the weapons were stashed and selected the closest items to the door which were mostly long bladed weapons and clubs.

As they ran down the hall Lincoln spotted Clyde.

"Whoa, what's going on?" his friend asked.

"Danger!" Lincoln yelled. "They're all in danger!"

"What?" Clyde asked. And before Lincoln could say anything, Rusty went up to Clyde and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Did you see if my brother went with them?"

"What? I don't know he was just here."

Rusty pushed himself off Clyde and continued down the hall with the other kids.

Clyde turned to Lincoln with a puzzled expression.

"No time to explain." Lincoln said. "We have to save them!"

 **8.**

Lana was crying as the other kids who were behind her when she chased Grease Monkey were now in front of her. She had gotten so far ahead of them, that when they all turned around and started to run they were now far ahead of her. Only Lola slowed down to let her sister catch up to her. Then they spotted a dark-haired girl making her way towards them.

"Lucy!" they both shouted.

"What were you thinking?" she cried as she reached them.

"I don't know?" Lana sobbed.

There was no time to scold the twins. The other adults were gaining.

"Come on!" Lucy shouted, which she quickly realized didn't need to be said.

They were getting closer and closer to the school. Their hearts were beating as fast as their feet were hitting the pavement. For a moment, it looked like they were going to get away.

Then suddenly, even more greens appeared in front of them. Being led by a tall, shirtless, muscular adult carrying a brick.

 _Brick_ , is what everyone called him.

They all screamed as Bricks group cut off some of the kids who tried retreating earlier and swamped them.

"We're doomed!" Lola cried.

Lucy grabbed her sisters hands and tried to lead them horizontally away from the two approaching groups.

But the grown-ups had a plan for this as well because even more adults began to approach from the other two directions.

They were completely surrounded. The adults were closing in on them fast. All Lucy could do was lead her younger sisters back to the center of the horde.

It was just them and a few other scared kids.

Lucy looked at all their terrified faces: She saw her friend Grace and Stan's younger sister, Sally. A boy named Timmy, and Lana and Lola looking up at her with petrified, tear-stained eyes.

It was hopeless.

Lola began to sob even harder.

"Don't worry my queen. I'll protect you." Said Timmy as held up a knife at the ready.

Brick and his group quickly approached, and Brick heaved a brick that struck Timmy right in the jaw. He dropped his knife and fell onto his butt. He brought a hand up to his cheek and began to cry and wail with pain.

He cried for his mom. For her to make everything better. He cried for her warmth, comfort and protection that would never come. Instead he was quickly beset by greens and torn to pieces.

Lucy couldn't believe this was happening. She'd seen so many zombie movies where character were overwhelmed by zombies, ripped to shreds and devoured. She always thought those scenes were cool. But now she wished she'd never seen those movies at all. Because now she knew what to expect and how painful it would look and be.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" Lana cried as she held Lola.

Lucy then wrapped her arms around them and held them as tight as she could. She took one last look up at the sun. Bathing in it's warmth as a large cloud slowly moved in front of it.

She then closed her eyes and buried her face against her sister's heads.

 _Please don't let it hurt._ She prayed. Then she felt the cold, dead hands of the greens clasp onto to her and pry her from her sisters.

She screamed. Too afraid to open her eyes as she felt herself being lifted up. Then she heard her younger sisters scream and then she was surrounded by darkness.

* * *

Rocky just stood there as the crowd of greens completely swamped the kids. He was too afraid to even move.

"What the hell are you doing?" he heard a voice cry out and then he looked to see Trinity running up to him. "Get out of here!"

"I…I…" He stammered.

"I said get!" Trinity screamed again as she clutched a large Bowie knife. "I have to save the children."

"You're too late." Rocky cried.

"I have to try!"

Trinity slammed into the large mass of greens. Slashing her knife like a madwoman. But it was hopeless there were way too many adults. Still, Trinity wasn't going to give up. She didn't care whether she lived or died. Her one job was to protect the kids and she'd failed.

She made the mistake of stabbing an adult male in the chest which caused her knife to get stuck. She tried desperately to pull it free but another adult bit her on the arm which caused her to let go of the knife.

She ripped her away and stumbled backwards. Then she began to fight the adults with her fists.

She risked taking another look back at Rocky who was still standing. Too scared to move.

"I said run!" she screamed and then looked back at the group of adults.

The man she'd stabbed in the chest had removed the knife and shoved the blade right into Trinity's stomach.

She howled with pain and fell to her knees clutching her stab wound.

The adult brought the knife down again on the back of her neck and she felt the life slowly flowing out of her. To be replaced by darkness.

The adults then made a move towards Rocky who ended up fainting before they got to him.

 **9.**

"NO!" Lynn cried as she saw the immense size of the crowd of grown-ups.

"We're too late!" Luan cried.

"Shut up!" Lynn snapped, and she made her way towards the adults.

The grown-ups were beginning to retreat.

"Lynn, wait!" Luna cried but Lynn ignored her and went to work on the greens that were too slow to get away from the large group of approaching kids.

She let loose all kids of obscenities as she tore into the greens with a mace. Soon other kids reached the adults and tore into them as well.

Lynn fought through her tears as her muscles ached and screamed for her to stop. But she ignored them too.

Soon Luna was with her and she took down as many greens as she could as well. But in the end, there were too many.

There was nothing they could do. They'd failed their younger sisters again. The adults quickly dispersed leaving trails of blood, guts, shredded articles of clothing and several unidentifiable body parts everywhere.

The Loud siblings weren't sure which pile of gore belonged to their sisters and they didn't want to know.

"DAMN IT!" Lynn screamed as she pounded her fists in the asphalt.

Luna, Luan and Lincoln went up to her and they all held each other and cried. How many more times were they going to have to go through this?

Beside them, other kids began to cry. A lot of other kids had siblings who were now gone. Including Stan.

Stan collapsed to his knees, threw his head back and wailed.

Rusty also began to cry for his brother as well.

A few feet away Duke and Joey were looking around at all the crying kids.

Joey then turned to Duke. "Well, this sucks."

 **10\. Shade Walker  
**

Shade Walker strolled down the sidewalk of Royal Woods. Not a care in the world. He was all alone, but he didn't mind. He liked being alone. If you were alone then you didn't have to worry about anyone else. It was just him and his roll of marijuana. He took another puff and savored the moment before exhaling.

 _Good shit._ He thought.

He whistled as he walked. He loved to walk. If he wasn't at home playing video games or smoking that good shit or sleeping. He was walking. He thought it was funny that he enjoyed walking so much. His last name was Walker after all.

 _Walker, Texas Ranger._ He thought to himself which made him chuckle.

He looked up towards the cloudy sky seeing shapes and images in the clouds. He searched strenuously. Hoping to see a cloud that looked phallic. Although if he did he'd probably burst out laughing and end up rolling on the ground laughing. Which probably wouldn't be the best thing to do. He needed to stay quiet. One loud sound and those crazies could be on me like moths to a flame. Only the moths could eat the flame.

 _What do moths eat?_ He wondered.

 _Moths balls._

That thought almost made him burst out laughing.

 _Damn. Don't laugh. Focus. Laser beam focus. Quad laser beam focus._

He almost laughed again.

Calm down man. Keep calm and carry on. Calm as a cucumber. Larry the Cucumber. Bob the Tomato.

VeggieTales.

 _Wait. Tomatoes are fruits. What's a fruit doing on VeggieTales?_

Shade wanted to slap himself. Now's not the time for questions.

He could see a school come into view.

 _Royal Woods High school._

 _High school. The school is high._

Shade slapped himself.

"Hey, who did that?" He looked around and then saw his hand. "Oh."

He walked closer to the school. He could see adults wandering around the football field. He noticed all kinds of things set up around the field. Cars, gas tanks, firewood, propane tanks.

 _What do they plan on doing with those propane tanks? Are they planning on having a cookout? If that's the case, then don't they need a grill or something?_

"Propane," Shade said to himself. "I sell propane and propane accessories."

Shade was really trying not to laugh now.

That's when he noticed a large group of adults marching his way.

"Uh-oh, Chongo," he said. And then he hurried into a house to hide.

He made his way to the second floor of the house and looked out a window to spy on the adults.

He saw that at the head of the group was a tall, muscular, shirtless adult carrying a brick, and walking right beside him was a tall, greasy-haired looking adult wearing a mechanic uniform. He watched as they made their way towards a big, fat adult who was sitting on large seat, watching over everyone. As soon as the adults reached him he could see them passing something along through the crowd. It looked like a sack. The sack then reached Brick who opened it and he and a few other adults took out some kids. They were all alive. One of them was a pale girl with dark hair and dark clothing. Another one was a blonde girl wearing overalls and had her hair in two pigtails. Another one was a blonde girl who looked very similar to the other blonde girl and was dressed in pink. Then they took out three more kids. One was a kid with orange hair, another one was small brunette and the last one they took out was another girl with dark hair.

The fat adult nodded and a few adults hurried over and carried the kids to a car and shoved them all inside the vehicle.

 _They're keeping them prisoner._ Shade thought. As he noticed even more kids that were trapped inside other cars as well.

That must be what all those flammable objects are for they _are_ going to have a cookout.

Shade wished he had a sniper rifle so he could shoot the propane tanks and turn that field into Hiroshima. But unfortunately, there was nothing he could do for those kids. He waited until the coast was clear and left the house continuing his way down Royal Woods. Trying his best to get the bizarre and terrifying sight of those adults working together, and of those poor helpless little kids out of his mind.

 _There's nothing you can do for them._ Shade told himself. _Just keep walking, man. Eyes forward, Standing straight. One foot in front of the other._

 **11\. Christopher Savinski VII**

Chris and his group went to work on the Hazeltucky elementary school.

There weren't that many kids in the school.

"Damn." Chris swore. "I guess these kids weren't as prepared as the other school."

Crony nodded. _But on the bright side we did manage to find even more adults for your army._

Chris nodded and looked back at all the adults that had joined him so far. There had to be well over a thousand of them. He was pleased. But at the same time, it just meant more mouths to feed.

Oh well. Soon they'd head off to Huntington Oaks. It was a town where a lot of wealthy people lived. There were bound to be some kids there.

Chris told everyone to get a move on and they continued down the road. Leaving a path of destruction in their wake.

* * *

 _I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it._

 _I feel satisfied with this chapter because it didn't feel as rushed as the others. Of course I still feel like I rushed through some parts. I wanted to do a better job of showing Lana plan and prepare for her assault on Grease Monkey. But unfortunately I couldn't think of a way to do that. I'm sure her failed attack reminded those of you who've read **The Enemy** series of the scene in **The End** where Paddy leads other little kids on a failed strike to attack the sickos. That is what inspired me to write this scene after all.  
_

 _Now as much as I hate to keep you readers waiting, I'm going to take a while to write the next chapter because I want it to be really good. It's going to be about the Elementary School group rescuing the kids from the adults at the high school._

 _It's kind of going to be similar to the scene in **The Dead** where Jack, Ed, and Bam are at The Oval. Only this is going to be a rescue mission._

 _Anyway, thank you all so much for the 3k views. I'm not sure how many of the views are from people who actually read all the chapters but thanks a lot to those of you who have read all the chapters so far._

 _Stay tuned for what I'm pretty sure will be the last chapter of Phase III. It's going to be a blast. (;_


	8. The Rescue

**You know what? Now that I think about it, I think that my chapters are pretty long. I mean, this is my longest chapter yet with 17,000 words. (not including the text before and after this chapter) I know I said I wanted to take my time on this chapter but I still feel like I kind of rushed through it. Oh well, I shouldn't worry about trying to make this fanfic a masterpiece, I should just be having fun. That doesn't mean I won't try my best though. I'll worry about downsizing the chapters in the spin-off to this series.**

 **Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

 **P.S. I'm sure you've noticed that I don't name all the parts to some of the numbers anymore. I really think that trying to name every chapter within the chapter was a silly thing to try and do.  
**

* * *

 **The Danger**

 **Chapter 2: The Rescue**

 **1.**

No one thought it was possible, but the mood in the school had become even more miserable than the day after Lisa's death. A little over Twenty-four hours had passed since Lana's failed assault on Grease Monkey. No one had slept a wink. Everyone who had a sibling that was brought out by Lana only to be killed had spent the last day crying.

In one area of the school's gym. Lincoln and his siblings sat huddled together still sobbing uncontrollably. Around them were some crying kids as well. While everyone who didn't have anyone to lose or whose younger siblings weren't killed sat around not knowing what to do. They were all uncomfortable but at the same time, their hearts broke for the crying children.

However, one thought hung over everyone's heads. The elephant in the room. The one reason so many kids went out into the unknown was because of one girl. Lana Loud.

No one wanted to say anything to the Loud siblings because they were all hurting enough. But they all thought it was Lana's fault so many kids had died. The only question was, did the Loud siblings deserve to take any kind of flak for something that wasn't exactly their fault? They didn't know what Lana was planning after all.

In the auditorium Duke sat on his makeshift throne with a hand to his chin with Joey standing beside him. Looking at the ground shaking his head. In front of them was Stan. Marching back in forth crying and cursing in between sobs.

"It's all their fault. All of them. Those fucking bitches. Nothing good has happened since they've shown up."

Duke didn't budge as he tapped his chin with his index finger. He was completely lost in thought. The events of the previous day kept replaying in his head like one of those Hollywood movies that were shot through the point of view of a camera. Only the camera was his own two eyes, and the film was his brain.

"What should we do?" Joey asked Duke which snapped him out of his bad memory.

"Huh?"

"About everyone. These people need a leader, Duke. Someone to reassure them."

"Right, right." Duke nodded his head up and down more times than was necessary. "I think we should give the kids who'd lost any of their loved ones some time to grieve, but we really need to get things back on track. We need to get people back to work with growing food, cooking, food, looking for supplies." Duke continued to list off things for kids to do. While Joey agreed. "Here in a bit we should call a meeting and set up another game plan. It's been a while since- "

"NO!" Stan shouted which caused Duke to jump, while Joey slowly turned to him. "Before we do anything we need to get rid of those Loud siblings."

"What?" Duke and Joey both said in unison.

"I'm saying we send them off somewhere else?"

"Like where?" Duke and Joey both said at the same time again which caused them both to look at each other and Duke told Joey to let him ask the questions.

"I don't know? We'll just let them worry about that. They can go to the middle school, or something. All I know is no one wants them here. Not after what their sisters did."

"I get that you're upset Stan, but it's too dangerous to send them out on their own. They've got a baby."

"Why are you defending them, Duke? As far as I'm concerned you only wanted them to stay because of Lisa."

Duke's sweat ran cold. "What?"

"You heard me. Lisa was your ace in the hole. You're ticket to world domination. You were power hungry, Duke. And now we're fucked."

As much as Stan hated Duke at that moment. He didn't hate him as much as he hated the Loud family. It was their sister who had marched his sister to her death.

"I find it very funny that you're blaming them for something they had no control over. If I remember you defended Mary for the same reason." Duke retorted.

Stan swore. He suddenly remembered getting into a fight with Duke, Joey, and the Loud sister over the ex-zealot. "This is different. I'm not saying they deserve to die. I'm merely just suggesting relocation."

Duke shook his head. Telling the Loud siblings to leave would be more trouble than it was worth. "I'm sorry, Duke but I can't send them away."

Stan was filled with even more rage. "When did you suddenly get a conscience?"

"From you," he said, with a smile.

Stan swore and plopped on his butt as he began to cry again.

 _That family is going to pay for what they've done._

 **2\. The High School**

Lucy, Lana, and Lola all held each other and shivered. They were being held prisoner in a locked car. They didn't think is was possible for them to be any more scared than they were at the beginning of the outbreak, but they were wrong. Being surrounded. Being carried in a large leather sack. Being held prisoner. Being uncertain of what was going to happen to them. It was too much for any of them to bear.

After they were brought here. After they realized they were still alive. There was an ever so slight moment of relief as they hugged each other. But that joy was short lived as they realized they were trapped and surrounded by more grown-ups than they could count. They looked around and began to realize where they were, _Royal Woods High School._ Thoughts of their two oldest sisters Lori and Leni slowly invaded their minds, but they quickly shot it out of them. As they looked around they saw a very large adult man sitting on a makeshift throne in the middle of the field. He was looking around with intense anticipation. Next to him were four blonde diseased teenagers whose hair were blocking their faces and whose clothes were completely stained and dirty.

They began to sob when suddenly an adult banged a fist on the roof of the car for them to shut up. They all looked to see Grease Monkey staring longingly at them. He smiled once they all met his gaze. That evil wicked grin that Lana hated more than anything. Behind him stood _Brick_. His face was a stark contrast to Grease Monkey's. Stone-cold and emotionless. They were too scared to cry. Too scared to move. Too scared to breath. Eventually Grease Monkey and Brick left them alone and here they were so many hours later. Their siblings probably thought they were all dead. And that thought brought them more despair than anything. They were probably never going to see them again. It was just them: Lucy, Lana, Lola, Rocky, Sally, and Grace. As well as a few other kids in different cars that were probably kidnapped from different areas.

 _This is it._ They were all thinking. The adults had brought them here just to eat them. They began to wonder if it'd been better if they'd been killed yesterday. The waiting was worse than anything. The fear of the unknown. It wasn't the _how_ that bothered them- they already had an idea of what was going to happen- it was the _when_. When was the inevitable going to happen? When were these adults going to rip open the car door and sink their teeth into them?

The fact that they were surrounded by all kinds of flammable objects also caused them to worry. One small spark and _ka-boom!_ They'd all go up in flames.

Lucy wished she could come up with words of reassurance to calm her sister, but she knew words were meaningless. Instead she just continued to hold them trying her best to shield them from the horrors that awaited them all.

 **3\. Shade Walker II**

Shade was back on the move. He'd spent the night at some random house. Where he slept in some random persons room and rubbed one out to that persons hidden stash of porno mags. As boring as pictures were, it was all he had. He wished he could've taken some with him, but he'd hate to be caught with them. Instead he helped himself to the random persons hidden supply of weed. He and that person weren't so different. He lit the joint and continued to go to town. Trying his best to forget about the large organized group of adults he'd seen yesterday.

 _It's a brand-new day._ He told himself. _What's done is done. All that matters is me. Me, myself and I. And Mary Jane._

He imagined the weed as girl. He imagined walking beside her. Holding her hand. Staring into her dark green eyes.

 _Where are we going?_ She asked him.

"I don't know?" Shade replied. "Wherever the wind takes us, I guess."

She nodded and looked down to the ground.

"Is something on your mind?" Shade asked her.

 _I don't know. It just… I'm really worried about those kids._

"Hey, come on now," he said softly, and they both stopped and faced each other. "There's nothing we can do for them. Going back for them would be a suicide mission. And that's one mission I don't mind failing."

 _I guess you're right,_ Mary Jane said. But she still looked unsure of herself.

"Then what's the problem?" Shade pressed on.

 _It's just that, if you were in their situation I'm sure you'd want someone to rescue you, right?_

"I guess. But who'd want to rescue me? I've got no one."

 _You've got me,_ Mary Jane said, with a smile.

"True. But the thing is…"

 _What?_

"You're not real."

Mary Jane looked offended. She put her head down and tears began to fill her eyes. Which caused tiny little crystals to travel down her Ivory colored face.

Shade instantly regretted what he said. "I'm sorry MJ. I'm sorry," he pleaded as the green from her iris began to spread all over her crying face.

"No. Please wait!" Shade Continued to cry, but it was too late. Mary Jane was completely enveloped by green. She then looked back up at Shade and snarled.

"What?" was all he time to say before she lunged at him sending him falling on his back.

He struggled to keep her away as she tried to bite his face off. Saliva was dripping from her mouth on to his face. He began to scream for help, but his cries went unanswered. It was just him and this diseased girl sprawled out on the sidewalk in the middle of Royal Woods. He wished more than anything that someone would come save him. But it was hopeless.

Shade thought back to all the movies he'd seen where a character was in his same exact situation. In those movies the character would reach out fore something. Anything. And end up grabbing something useful. Like a rock, or a weapon of some kind.

What did he have to lose? Shade let go of the diseased girl and felt around. And Bingo was his name-o.

Shade grabbed a good-sized rock and swung his arm as hard as he could. Connecting to the girl's head. She went down for a second and tried to get back up. Which Shade was able to prevent from happening with another hard swing. And another. And another. And another.

"Rock ex machina!" Shade yelled as he got up and threw the rock at the body that lay before him.

He looked around and spotted his joint on the ground and took another puff.

Was this what he got for not trying to help those kids? He wondered. Thinking to how helpless he felt when he was pinned down. Maybe that was a sign. A sign that he should do the right thing and save those children.

It was decided. He'd go find a group of surviving children and try to convince them to help him save those kids.

He then exhaled.

Right after he sobered up of course.

 **4.**

Stan walked past the gym. Daring not to look in it. If he did, the sight of the Loud family would send him into a rage. He knew it wasn't really their fault his sister was dead. But he still harbored resentment towards them for Jeremy as well. At how they'd left his friend behind which made Stan leave him behind as well. He then reached the home economics room where Mary and her brother Matt would be residing.

He took a breath and entered it. Mary and Matt were both sitting huddled together in a corner watching kids work. As soon as Mary noticed Stan her face lit up with joy and empathy

"Stan," was all she said as he walked over to her.

"Hey, how are you doing?"

 _How am I doing?_ Mary thought. She should be the one asking him how _he_ was doing. After all, his younger sister was dead while her younger brother was still alive.

"I'm doing fine thanks. The real question is, how are you doing?"

Stan looked down as sounds of the sewing machines filled the room. He could tell the other kids in the room were trying their best not to look at him.

"Not good."

Mary frowned.

"I'm so sorry about your sister."

Stan shook his head. "It's not your fault. I should have done a better job keeping an eye on her. I should have told her to stay away from those Loud siblings. They're nothing but trouble. Wherever they go, chaos follows."

Mary didn't know what to say.

"I tried to convince Duke to kick them out. But he suddenly grew a heart and refuses to do that."

Before Mary could say anything, another voice spoke up. "Why on earth would you try to convince Duke to kick them out?"

Stan looked to see a blonde girl dressed in pink marching towards him. It was Sarah.

Stan knew his talking would draw some attention, but he didn't care.

"I don't know where you've been for the past twenty-four hours, Sarah? But my sister is dead. Other kids are dead as well. And who's to blame for that?"

Sarah slouched her shoulders and exhaled. "Look, I'm sorry about your sister, but you're not the only one whose hurting. I'm sure if you give it time, you'll stop blaming them for something they had nothing to do with." She then acknowledged Mary. "Remember what you said about her only twenty-four hours ago?"

Stan sighed. He'd already had this conversation with Duke. He wanted to break down, to kick and scream and curse everyone around him. But what could would that do? His sister was dead. He'd failed her.

"Stan," A voice said.

Everyone looked to see Tyler standing in the doorway.

"What?" Stan asked.

"There's someone at the door who wants in."

"So?"

"So? I just thought you'd want to welcome him in with us."

Stan sighed. He'd come here to have a talk with Mary but it looked like that would have to wait for now. "All right, fine."

* * *

"Let me in Doug Funnie," Shade demanded.

"Very funny Shade," Doug Snorted. "But like I said, I'm not authorized to let in random strangers."

"Okay first of all," Shade began. "I'm not some random stranger, you know who I am. And second, Authorization? What kind of circus are you fellas running here?"

Before Doug could answer, Stan showed up.

"Stan! Buddy ol' pal. Finally someone with some sense. What's up?"

"What are you doing, Shade?" he asked.

"Well I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by, maybe surprise the children. What the hell do you think I'm here for, man? I'm here for sanctuary. Sanctuary! Sanctuary!" He giggled after acting out those last two words.

Stan rolled his eyes. Shade was always a weird kid. He wondered how the heck he could've survived out there on his own.

"But more importantly, I've got some news, Stanley. So, could you please point me to the person in charge of this operation?"

Stan sighed again and took out a key and unlocked the chain.

"I knew you cared about me."

"Shut up," Stan demanded.

They then began to make their way down the hallway of Royal Woods Elementary School.

"Don't you want to hear my news?" Shade asked him.

"I don't care," Stan said. Thinking that whatever news Shade had for them would probably revolve around drugs or his private parts.

Shade was about to say something when they passed some crying kids in the hall and then the gym.

"Sheesh, why is this place a total sadness factory?"

"It's a long story." Stan said.

Shade nodded.

They then reached the auditorium.

Shade looked around and saw Duke and Joey on the stage.

Shade spoke first. "Duke Melville as I live and breathe!"

Duke looked up and saw Shade there was no mistaking his curly, wavy, shoulder-length hair and all the other stuff that gave off a stoner vibe. "What the fuck?" he said. Then he looked at Stan. "Stan I thought I-

"I don't care." Stan interrupted and plopped his butt on one of the auditorium chairs, completely disinterested in what was going on.

Duke decided to leave it and then turned back to Shade.

"Shade, where the heck did you come from?"

"My mom's vag."

Joey laughed, and Duke just shook his head.

"No, I mean how did you get here?"

"I walked."

"Obviously, I mean, how did you survive out there?"

"I'm a Texas Ranger." Shade answered.

Duke stood up and shouted. "What the fuck do you want Shade?"

"Sanctuary!" Shade cried.

"Well you chose the wrong place." Stan said.

Confusion spread over Shade's face. "Why? Is this place haunted?"

"No, it's cursed."

"What makes you say that?"

Stan shrugged his shoulders. As the faces of the Loud sisters flashed through his mind.

Duke spoke up again. "Look Shade, we've just been through a lot of shit. We recently lost some kids and we're not in the mood for any your bullshit."

"Okay fine," Shade responded. And then he reached in his pocket and took out a joint which caused Duke to react as if he just saw a kid's mom buy him a piece of candy at the store after his own mom told him he couldn't have any.

"Wait. Is that marijuana?"

"Yes," Shade said. "And it's my last one, so don't bother asking for a hit." Which was a lie.

Duke gripped his spear tighter while Joey shook his head now.

"So, tell me more about what just happened. You said you lost some kids, which I'm guessing is why there are so many crying kids."

Stan then spoke up. "I'll tell you what happened. The Loud family happened."

Shade began to think. The Loud family. The most popular family in Royal Woods. There was thirteen of them. Eleven kids. Two parents. One boy. Ten girls.

"What about them?" he asked.

Stan fought back tears as he told Shade the story of Lana leading his sister to her death.

Wheels began to turn in shade's head. He imagined a hamster running on a wheel. Then he remembered his own pet hamster named Spanky. He missed Spanky.

 _Focus._

"Stan," Shade said. "What was your sister wearing when this all went down?"

"What does it matter?" Stan sniffed.

"Answer the question."

Stan sighed. "A gray shirt and pink pants, and blue converse."

Shade thought about one of the girls he saw the adults force into the car at the high school.

"And did this gray shirt of hers have a heart on it?" he asked.

Stan perked up and shot an intense look at Shade. "Yeah. Why?"

Shade brought the blunt to his lips. Took a puff and savored the moment. All while Stan continued to shoot him with his fierce stare. Shade was worried that his eyes would shoot out of his sockets and go right through his body if he kept him in suspense any longer.

Shade exhaled and watched the smoke slowly drift away into the dead-quiet auditorium. And then he hit Stan with his news.

"Stan. You're sisters not dead. I saw her. She's alive."

The bubble of tension in the auditorium had burst. Stan began to shake rapidly. Shade expected him to jump for joy and thank him for giving him the wonderful news. Instead he shot out of his seat and grabbed Shade's shirt with both of his hands and began to shake him back and forth. Shouting.

"Don't fucking lie to me you piece of shit! I'll fucking beat the fucking shit out of you. I'll cut you to fucking pieces and throw you off the fucking roof of this fucking school!"

Shade held on to his blunt for dear life as his head bobbled all over the place on his long neck.

Duke and Joey made their way towards them. And tried to pull Stan off Shade.

"I'm not lying you psycho!" Shade cried. "Stop shaking me or I'll drop my weed."

"I don't care! You're going to take me to where you saw my sister right fucking now!" Stan's face was red with rage.

"Okay, Okay, dude. Damn. Enough with the misplaced aggression already."

Stan let go of Shade and began to bombard him with questions.

"Where did you see her? Were there other adults? How many were there? How many kids do you think we'll need to go rescue her?"

Shade was about to bring the joint back to his mouth when Stan slapped it away.

"Hey! You owe me a blunt, dude."

"Fuck your blunt!"

Now Duke spoke up. "Did you see any other kids?"

"Yeah, I saw a goth looking girl, two blonde girls that looked like twins. A boy with orange hair and a brunette girl."

 _They're still alive too?_ Stan thought. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was saving his sister.

Duke turned to Joey. "We have to go tell the others."

And they all ran down the auditorium and into the hallway towards the gym.

* * *

In the gym. The Loud siblings were still crying. Lincoln held Lily as he was surrounded by his sisters. Next to him was his best friend Clyde. Clyde didn't know what he could do or say to cheer up his best friend. It seemed like they were making progress the previous day and now they were ten steps backwards. The sight of his devastated friend crushed him so much that he cried too. He removed his glasses and wiped his eyes with a tissue while Charles laid next to them.

The family hadn't slept a wink. They were tired. But their tiredness was canceled out by the pain of losing their younger sisters. They all continued to hold each other. Never wanting to let got of each other ever again.

Then, Stan barged into the gym. Followed by Duke, Joey, and Shade.

"Luna, Luan, Lynn. Get up now!" He yelled.

The Loud siblings all looked up at him. Wondering what he could want. They hadn't thought about him once over the last twenty-four hours. But then it suddenly dawned on them that he could want retribution for Lana leading his sister to her death.

He yelled again when they refused to budge. "Get up. Hurry! There's no time to waste."

What did he mean by _no time to waste?_ They wondered.

Finally, Luna spoke up. "What do you want? Leave us alone." Her voice was dry and hoarse from crying.

As Stan got closer they noticed that he looked excited and cautiously optimistic.

His heart was beating fast and he didn't know how else to put what he was about to tell them, so he just said it.

"They're alive!" he cried, which caused the entire gym to go quiet.

The Loud family looked confused. They truly had no idea what Stan meant. Either that or they refused to get their hopes up until they got some clarity.

"Who's alive?" Luna asked.

Stan gave her a puzzled look.

 _Who do you think?_ He wanted to say. But instead he just continued to hit them with the news.

"Our sister's!"

The pressure in the room began to increase.

"What do you mean?" Luna asked. Needing Stan to be as clear as he possibly could.

"I mean my sister is still alive. As well as yours. Lucy, Lana, and Lola. They're alive. He said so." Stan pointed at Shade who stood with his shoulder hunched moving his eyes back and forth, scanning the gym.

He then studied the Loud family. The most famous family in Royal Woods. The family with ten girls and one boy. Why was that? Were their parents Mormon? Did their dad have a weak pullout game? And as for the fact that ten of them were girls: Was it just a coincidence or was their dad a little handicapped when it came to his third leg?

He quickly noticed that a few of them were missing but he made note of the ones that were right in front of him.

There was Luna. She was the same age as him. Fifteen. She was a musician. He actually enjoyed listening to her play in little concerts and talent shows. But he didn't care for her singing. It was hard to listen to someone sing when their voice sounded like Chum Chum from _Fanboy & Chum Chum._

Then there was Luan. The clown of the family. She loved telling jokes. However, whenever he was around her and she set up a joke, he'd always beat her to the punchline. Which he could tell would annoy her.

Then there was Lynn. The athlete of the family. She was always on the move always working out, always playing a sport. He had no idea how she did it. He often wondered if she took steroids.

And Lincoln. The only boy in the family. Shade wondered what everyone else in Royal Woods wondered. Besides the question of why his hair was white. _What was it like having ten sisters?_ Which sister was his favorite and least favorite? He also wondered if any kids in Royal Woods shipped him with any of his sisters. If so what would their kids looked like? Shade immediately shot that thought out of his head. Only a creep would set up a world where an underaged boy was in love with his underaged sisters.

And then there was the baby. Shade couldn't think of anything. He was amazed that the baby had survived this long though.

All eyes were on Stan. The family that sat before him looked like they were staring right through him. As if he wasn't even there. As if nothing was there. As if they were all sitting in the middle of a wasteland waiting for time itself to end. Then they were finally impacted by Stan's words. The three oldest sisters shot up and barreled right at him with such speed that Stan was worried that it would feel like getting hit by a truck if they didn't stop. While Lincoln slowly stood up, still holding Lily.

"What the hell are you saying, man?" Luna asked again, her voice shaking. It still sounded like she didn't know what Stan was saying.

"Where are they?" Lynn yelled. "Are they here? Tell me where they are. I'll go look for them by myself if I have to."

Stan told them exactly what Shade had told him.

Their hearts were racing. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Just five minutes ago they all felt hopeless. Like nothing in the world was ever going to cheer them up. As if they were never going to be happy again. And now they were completely energized. They then turned to Shade.

"You saw them? Lynn demanded. "You really saw them? Are you sure? You swear to God you saw them?"

"I'm just saying, I saw a girl with black hair and a pale face, wearing dark clothes. Two little blonde girls that looked like twins. A boy with orange hair- "

"Orange hair?" A high-pitched voice squeaked.

Shade looked to see another boy with orange hair making his way towards him.

"Did he look like me? Did he have freckles and a blue shirt on?"

"Yeah. Yeah he did."

Rusty's knees began to wobble and he looked like he was going to pass out.

Soon Shade was bombarded by even more questions from other random kids. All of them asking if he saw any of their siblings.

Shade was telling them that he only saw six kids when Stan spoke up again.

"We have to get a move on." He then told the Loud sisters to go grab some weapons and asked for any volunteers to go with them.

Lincoln set Lily in her crib and finally spoke up. "I'm going with you."

All three of his older sisters snapped their heads to him.

"No, you're not." Luna said. Wanted to shout but kept her cool.

"Yes I am." Lincoln began to march right up to them. "I have to do this. They're my sisters too."

"We know, Lincoln. But someone's going to have to stay behind and watch Lily." Luna told him.

Lincoln looked back at Lily, whose tiny head was peeking over the railing of the crib, and back at his sisters. Weighing his options.

"No, I have to do this. I've saved them once. I can save them again."

Now Lynn angrily marched up to him. "Lincoln, we don't have time for this. You're staying here and that's final!" She was leering at him with such ferocity, but at the same time it looked like she was hiding something behind her scowl.

Lincoln doubled down. "No, I'm going with you and _that's_ final. If you don't want me to go with you then you're going to have to break every bone in my body to keep me from moving. Other than that, I'm going with you and there's nothing you can say to stop me."

Lynn began to shake furiously. Luna and Luan turned their attention from their brother to their sister.

"Lynn are you okay?" Luna asked.

All the emotions began to flood out of Lynn and she yelled. "No, I'm not okay. I've never been okay. Nothing's been okay since this shit went down after that huge explosion in the sky. I don't want to do this, but I have to. I don't want any of you to do this, but you have to. Don't you get it. I don't want to lose anyone again. I'm tired of crying. I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of people dying. I don't want to experience what I've been feeling ever again."

Tears began to travel down Lynn's cheeks. "I'm scared, okay. Ever since day one I've been scared. I was too scared to save any of my friends when they were being attacked. I was too scared to fight any of the grown-ups who chased me. And I was too scared to go in the Elementary School to look for you Lincoln, and my other sisters. And then I heard that you went back into the school to look for them. So I lied when I said I did look for you. I'm not brave. I'm not tough. All I am is a scared little kid. That's all any of us are. Kids. Stupid, stupid kids we shouldn't have to deal with this shit."

Lynn's words echoed off the walls and then the auditorium was thrown into silence. Everyone looked at the athletic girl who had now collapsed to her knees and had her face buried into her hands as she sobbed.

At last a lone voice spoke up. It was Randy.

"Kids: Leo Fitzpatrick, Chloe Sevigny, Rosario Dawson- "

"Be quiet, Randy." Several kids said.

Lincoln, Luna, and Luan went up to Lynn and comforted her.

"I'm sorry I lied." Lynn said. "I just… I didn't want you to think I was a coward and…

"It's okay." Lincoln told her. "I get it. You were scared."

"But you all could've been in trouble and I would've been no help at all."

"Let me ask you something Lynn. Were you scared when you went out with The Middle School group last week?"

Lynn nodded. "A little."

"And were you scared when you heard Lucy, Lana, and Lola were outside of the school."

"Yes."

"Yet you still went out there to try and save them."

Lynn nodded again. "I guess so."

"Lynn. Being brave means doing something even when your scared. No one can blame you for being afraid. It's like you said, we're just kids."

"But this is different, Lincoln. I'm not as scared now that I've got you all with me."

"But you're still scared, right?"

"Yes." Lynn wiped tears from her eyes.

"You're scared and you're still going out into the unknown."

"Yes."

"Well, in that case, you're still brave."

Lynn nodded. Remembering what Ethan told her when they first met.

"I'm not brave. I'm stupid."

"Stupidly brave." Luan said in an attempt at a joke.

Lynn looked up and wanted to giggle but couldn't

"Lynn." Another voice said. And they all looked to see Ethan with a few of his Colts standing around him.

"What?"

"I was wrong. You're not stupid. It takes a lot of guts to say what you said. I know you're type. Stubborn as hell. But you knew when it was time to stop acting all fearless and finally admited that you were scared in front of everyone."

Lynn nodded sheepishly. "I just want to save my sisters."

"I know." Ethan responded. "Which is why me and Lexi are going with you." He acknowledged the blonde girl standing next to him wielding a double-headed axe."

"Well in that case. I'll join you cuz." Ethan's cousin Jake said. "After all, you are my brother from another mother. And you came all the way from South Bend to chill with me." They high-fived each other.

"I want to go too." Another voice said. And they looked to see Cooper standing at the ready. "You're a tough girl Lynn. I'd hate to leave you hanging."

"I guess I'll go too." A girl said. It was Maggie.

"Why?" Stan asked her. "I have my reasons." She said in a monotone voice and walked over to the Loud siblings. She eyeballed Luan and stood next to her. Luan was slightly uncomfortable but didn't want to refuse the help.

"I want to join you as well." Another voice said. And they looked to see a fair-haired fifteen-year-old boy wearing a tan polo shirt and cargo shorts. With brown work boots and socks that went up to his knees. They recognized him as Tom the Boy Scout. "I'm sorry I didn't tell any of you this sooner. But a few days ago, Lana came up to me and asked if I could teach her how to make a bow so she could kill greens. I refused, and she wasn't too happy about that. Had I known that she'd end up going out on her own, I would've said something. Again, I'm very sorry. Please let me help." He was genuinely upset.

The Loud siblings were furious with Tom. But now was not the time to get angry. They'd deal with him later. Right now, they needed all the help they could get.

"Anyone else?" Stan asked.

"ME!" Rusty shouted excitedly. I have to save my brother.

No one argued.

Stan asked again if anyone else wanted to join them. No response.

Joey turned to Duke and asked if they should help.

"No," Duke whispered. "We need to stay here and keep an eye on things."

Joey nodded. He knew full well that Duke was too scared to go out there with them.

"Okay then." Stan turned to the Shade. "You're coming with us."

"Okay," was all he said.

Stan then counted the volunteers.

Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln, Rusty, Maggie, Cooper, Tom, Ethan, Jake, Lexi, and Shade.

Thirteen of them against the world.

Clyde went up to Lincoln. He wanted to help more than anything. But Lincoln told him to stay behind and watch Lily.

"But Lincoln I have to help." He cried.

"Help us by watching Lily."

"But Lincoln- "

"Please Clyde. If we don't come back, then she's going to need someone to look after her."

"Don't say that. It's going to be fine. You've got your sisters with you."

"I know. Just please. Do this for me."

Clyde held back his tears and nodded. "Good luck out there, man." And He and Lincoln both hugged.

Charles barked, and Lincoln pet his head.

"Okay everyone. Let's arm ourselves and save our family!" Stan shouted.

Shade smiled. He was glad he didn't need to convince anyone to help him go back to the high school. He felt guilty about not doing anything to help those children earlier, but now they were getting ready to head into the danger-zone. He was getting what he wanted. However, did he really want what he was about to get?

 **5.**

Lucy felt helpless to calm her younger sister's down. The grown-ups were getting restless. More and more started to show up. Some fought over bodies of dead kids. While others tried to break into some of the cars to get at the children who were imprisoned only to be fought off by healthier, stronger looking adults.

Finally, the big fat adult on the makeshift throne stood up and roared. Which got everyone's attention.

 _It was time._ He spoke to the others. And the other adults began to roar and howl with excitement.

"What's going on? Grace asked Lucy.

"I don't know?"

"I'm scared." Lola cried.

The adults couldn't hear the kids over their own shrieks.

"We're doomed." Lana sobbed.

Lucy held her younger siblings tighter.

"No." A tiny that belonged to Sally said. "My brother will save us. He'll save all the kids here."

"How do you know?" Lucy asked.

"My brother would never let anything bad happen to me."

"Aside from get kidnapped by monsters." Rusty spoke up. "Let's face it, they all think we're dead. And by the looks of it. We might as well be."

"You're wrong. My brother's brave. He'll come. You'll see."

"Whatever." Rusty said. Trying to hide the fact that he was on the verge of tears.

Lucy then thought of her older siblings. If they knew that she, Lana, and Lola were still alive. They'd go through hell to save them. But unfortunately, they didn't know. And it was only a matter of time before they were zombie-chow.

She then thought of that stupid cereal called _Zombie Bran._ And how Lincoln had gone through all kinds of trouble to get a box of it one time when they went to the store. If he'd go through that much for cereal. Then nothing would get in his way when it came to saving his sisters. But like Rusty said, they all thought they were dead.

They really needed a miracle.

 **6.**

"Let's go!" Stan yelled as he and the other volunteers charged down the streets in front of Royal Woods Elementary towards the danger.

All the other kids wished them luck and waved good-bye.

Duke stood next to Joey as usual.

"So, what do you think the odds of them saving the kids are."

Duke thought for a few seconds.

"I hope they make it."

"That's all any of us can do when we're powerless to do anything. Hope."

Joey's words caused Duke's mind to race back to _that night._ The night that changed his entire life.

Seven years ago, he and his younger sister, Beth were playing at a playground. It was dusk. Duke had recently watched a documentary about the Michigan Dogman the night before, which scared the crap out of him. A real-life werewolf in the state that he lived in. Night began to descend as they walked home. Duke could sense that they were in danger.

 _It was the Dogman._ He thought as he heard a twig snap in a nearby wooded area and he ran as fast as he could. Accidentally leaving his sister behind. When he got home his parents asked him where she was. He didn't know. So they went out to look for her. And when they couldn't find her they really began to panic. They called the police. But no one could find any trace of her. It was like she'd just vanished.

Duke hoped and hoped and hoped that she'd be found alive and unharmed. But that day never came. His parents always told him that it wasn't his fault. He was just a kid. But he knew. He left her behind. It was all his fault.

He eavesdropped and heard the police explain to his parents that his sister's disappearance might be the act of a serial-kidnapper. Who was kidnapping children at the time.

Eventually, time passed, and his parents decided that it was too much to bear living in that town where their daughter had disappeared, and they moved to Royal Woods.

Duke was still haunted to this day over how he had left his sister behind. It was all his fault. Sometimes he'd try to ease his conscience by telling himself that it wasn't his fault. It was whoever took her. But the question was: Who? Who took her? Who was the person that had been kidnapping kids and why? He shuddered thinking about some monster. Stealing kids for their own personal pleasure.

Recently it gave him a brief glimmer of satisfaction that whoever kidnapped Beth had to have been a rotting corpse by now. That's all adults were now. They weren't guardians, or teachers, or mentors.

They were monsters. Monsters who needed to be slain.

He hoped that Stan, and the Loud family could accomplish what he couldn't: saving their younger sisters.

* * *

Their hearts were racing. Visions of their siblings scared and at the mercy of the greens fueled their resolve. They were going to save their siblings if it killed them.

At the head of the group was Stan and Lynn, tied for first. Both wanted to save their loved one as much as the other. Stan was carrying his mace and Lynn was carrying her morning star.

Luckily, they hadn't encountered a single green in the last few minutes they'd been running.

"Faster!" Stan shouted as the middle school came into view.

"Do we have time to stop and ask Brock if he has any people to spare?" Cooper asked no one in particular.

"No, we keep going." Stan answered.

"If you say so."

They watched as the middle school drew closer and then retreated. How hard could it have been for someone to stay behind and tell Brock about what was going on? Maybe they just didn't want to put anyone else in danger.

Stan and Lynn were getting far ahead. Followed by Cooper, Ethan, Jake, and Lexi a few yards behind.

However, several yards back were Lincoln, Luna, Luan, Maggie, Rusty, Tom, and Shade. They were nowhere near as athletic as the others. Luan had a stitch in her side, so Luna wanted to stay next to her as well as Lincoln and Maggie. Rusty was red in the face, wheezing. Tom stayed close to make sure everyone was alright. While Shade lingered behind them with his hands in his pockets to make sure none of his joints fell out of them.

"Run faster!" Lynn shouted at everyone who was falling behind.

 _Great idea, why didn't I think of it?_ Shade wanted to say. He was always a smart-ass. But he knew now was not the time to get smart with Lynn. He knew how good of a fighter she was. Everyone in Royal Woods knew how strong and athletic she was.

"Come on sis, wait up!" Luna yelled back at her. "We need to stick together."

Lynn swore and began to slow down. But Stan didn't wait up, which caused her competitive side to take hold and she began to run fast again.

Lincoln imagined himself in a video game to calm himself down. He couldn't even begin to imagine the horrors that awaited him. He tried to convince himself that what he was seeing was what his video game character was seeing. That he was sitting on his sofa in his living room, relaxing in front of the T.V. with his thumb on the joystick. Except in this game, you didn't have much health, and only one life to lose.

 _So much for trying to calm myself down._

Luan was crying. But she kept telling herself to be brave. Brave for her sisters.

Luna put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't cry." She told her. "We'll be in and out of there in no time."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Shade said. And Luna shot him a death glare and he knew not to say anything else.

"It's not just that." Luan said. "We're going back to the high school of all places. The place where Lori and Leni…" She trailed off and began to breathe heavily.

"Wait!" Luna shouted up ahead. Everyone stopped and looked back. Except for Stan who carried on down the road. Lynn also stopped. Looked back and began to bounce on one foot at a time to keep herself moving.

"What is it?" she asked and saw Luan hyperventilating. She quickly rushed over.

"Are you okay, Luan?" Lincoln asked worriedly. But she was breathing too heavily to answer.

Luna rubbed Luan's back and uttered works of reassurance.

"Deep breaths," Lynn told her. As she placed hands on her chest and stomach.

"I'm scared," Luan finally said.

"That's the understatement of the century," Shade said under his breath. He wondered if giving her a puff of his marijuana would help her to relax. But then again, he hated to share.

"Look at me Luan," Luna told her.

Luan hesitantly met her older sister's gaze. She stared into her deep brown eyes. She instantly felt safe.

"It's okay. We're here for you. We won't let anything happen to you. You're stronger than you realize."

Luan began to nod.

Then Maggie spoke up.

"Luan," She said, which got everyone's attention. "You can do this. I believe in you. You're fearless. You got what it takes. I know you can do it. Your sisters need you."

 _Sheesh. Got anymore cliché lines while you're at it?_ Shade thought, as Maggie continued.

"Do you remember what I told you when we were in the sewers?"

Luan nodded.

"Good, now where's that happy, confident, carefree Luan Loud I- we love?"

Luan wanted to smile but couldn't, she was finally calm, however.

Meanwhile Stan was getting further away. He looked back and swore when he saw that they'd all stopped to help Luan. He stopped and gripped his mace tightly, but quickly took a deep breath.

Calm down, man. She's just scared. We all are. He told himself and continued towards the high school.

They were so close.

 **7.**

The adults were moving things around. Getting ready for the feast. At their lead was Fatso. Ordering them all around. Dusk was approaching. His mouth was watering as he studied all the kids locked in the cars. He needed something to take his mind off them. He looked back at the blonde teenagers in smiled. It time for them to get to work too.

Lana and Lola's faces were buried against Lucy as she watched the adults shuffle around.

"What are they doing?" Rusty asked, with a shaky voice.

"I don't know?" Lucy answered.

"What the heck is going on over there?" He pointed at the big fat adult who was now standing in front of a girl who was performing fellatio in him.

"Gross!" Grace cried.

Lucy was stunned. She could believe what she was seeing. The more she looked at the girl who was doing the deed the more she began to recognize the back of her head and her outfit.

 _No,_ she thought. _It can't be._ She quickly tore her eyes away from the revolting sight and put her head against her sisters. Trying her best not to vomit.

Why couldn't she have just been killed?

 **8.**

Everyone's heart skipped a beat when the high school came into view.

"There it is," Stan said to no one in particular.

"Now what?" Shade asked.

"Now you tell us where you saw our siblings, dingus."

Shade was hesitant. But they'd come this far. He kept telling himself this is what he wanted. "We have to get closer. If I remember correctly they were put in some type of gray minivan."

Stan nodded and they all crept closer weapons at the ready.

Everyone's heart was beating at the same rate. They were practically in sync.

They were in the school's parking lot when Tom spoke up. "Hold on. I brought some binoculars. Let me take a look." He stood on a cars bumper and peered through them, scanning the area. He saw adults moving sticks, flammable tanks and other random objects around. "They've got gas and propane tanks everywhere. We need to be really careful."

Shade cursed himself for forgetting to mention that to them.

Tom continued to look around and saw a huge adult standing with his hands on his hips in front of an infected teenage girl.

"Whoa. There's a big fat grown-up just standing there watching everyone one. He appears to be… oh my word." Tom instantly tore the binocular away from his face and began to gag.

"What is it?" Everyone began to ask at once.

"You don't want to know?" He told them, and no one pressed him.

He sheepishly put the binoculars back to his eyes and searched some more. "Wait, I see some kids. They're alive, but they're in a red sedan. And they don't look like our kids."

"There are other kids?" Ethan said. "We'll have to rescue them too."

"We'll worry about them after we save our kids first." Stan told him.

Ethan wanted to say something else, but didn't.

Tom finally spotted the gray minivan. "I see them!" he said, trying his best not to shout.

"Really, where?" Stan asked. Stepping onto the bumper as well and taking the binoculars from Tom.

"There. See them?"

Stan followed his finger and spotted them.

He took a sharp intake of breath and began to shake.

"Where are they? Do you see our siblings as well?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, I see them they all appear to be alright. Yours is too, Rusty."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rusty said. "Let's charge."

"Hold it!" Stan snapped. "This isn't like one of your video games where you can just charge in and hope for the best. We need to plan carefully." As Stan said these words he actually wanted nothing more than to charge over to the adults and slaughter all of them.

"I've got an idea," said Ethan.

"We're all ears."

"How about I go over to the other side of the field and yell and scream to draw their attention?"

"Are you nuts?" Jake exclaimed.

"I just might be. But I can outrun them, can't I? I'll be fine."

Lexi put a hand on Ethan's shoulder. "Are you sure about this, dude?"

"Not really, but does anyone have any better ideas?"

No one said anything.

"Then it's settled." Stan said. "We'll wait here while you go make your move."

Ethan nodded.

"Here. Take my whistle too," Tom said.

Ethan thanked him and snuck away.

They all continued to study the group of grown-ups waiting for the sound of the whistle.

Luna, Luan, Lynn, and Lincoln all held hands.

"Lincoln," Luna said. "Are you sure you can do this?"

Lincoln took a deep breath. "I've never been surer of anything in my entire life."

Luna nodded and with that they continued to wait. Tightly gripping their weapons. Bracing themselves for a possible fight.

* * *

Fatso had finished. He shoved the blonde girl away and had the other girls pull his pants back up. Now all he could think about was eating the children.

He looked around at the other adults getting things ready. And at the kids in the car.

 _Soon._ He kept telling himself. _Soon._

In the minivan Lucy was still watching the adults shuffle around. Just then Brick and Grease Monkey wandered over to the car. Behind them was a grown-up wearing a police uniform. She noticed that he still had all his items on his belt including a gun.

Grease Monkey had that same malicious smile on his face, while Brick was stone-faced. He was still clutching a Brick. Grease Monkey pounded on the roof of the car to get Lana's attention. She looked up and burst into tears when she saw Grease Monkey leering down at her again.

It was hopeless. No one was going to save them.

Just then. A noise began to fill the air, the sound of a whistle blowing.

Everyone's heart skipped a beat.

"What's that sound?" Rocky asked.

No one said anything.

Grease Monkey and Brick both looked back at Fatso who was howling and pointing at the other end of the football field. There was a kid wearing a blue jersey with the number eighteen on it. Blowing a whistle and jumping and waving his arms like a madman. Several adults began to make their way towards him. Prompting him to flee.

Grease Monkey and Brick began to follow the other adults. The police officer tried to join them, but Brick stopped him and pointed at the minivan. The officer grunted and walked back to the car to guard it.

"What's going on?" Lana asked.

No one knew anything.

Fatso watched as the other adults chased the kid. More than he felt comfortable with. It was just one kid. How many did it take to catch and kill one kid?

His rumbling stomach sounded like distant thunder. They needed to get a start on the cookout. He ordered the few remaining adults to start putting together a fire. But none of them knew how.

He growled. Using what little memory he had left to try to figure things out. One of the adults began to bang on one of the tanks with a hammer. But Fatso howled at him and he stopped. His continued to fish at his thoughts for information.

Fire. Fire. He knew you needed sticks, and gas and propane. But what was he missing.

Sparks.

That's it. They needed a light. But where could they get one?

He was so lost in thought that he didn't notice the kids creeping up to the field.

"Okay. I think most of them are gone," Stan said. "We need to hurry."

Everyone nodded. No going back now.

Lucy was too focused on the fat adult to notice her sisters only a few yards away.

Sally, however noticed movement in the corner of her eye. She looked back and squealed. She saw her brother and a few other kids sneaking towards them.

She placed both hands on the window. And was about to say something when Stan put a finger to his lips. She closed her mouth tight and nodded.

"What is it, Sally?" Lucy asked.

Sally turned and put a finger to her lips. She really wanted to tell them that Stan had come to recue them all, but kept quiet.

"There's one guarding the minivan," Stan told everyone.

"Only one?" Lynn scoffed. "I'll take the bastard down."

"No," Stan whispered harshly. "Tom brought a bow with him. Let him do it."

Lynn unwilfully relented.

Stan nodded to Tom who nodded back and snuck a few feet away to get a good shot at the adult.

He hid behind a car took aim with his bow and was about to let it fly when he felt something tug at his leg. He looked down to see a hand had extended out from underneath the car he was hiding behind which caused him to accidentally let go of the arrow which missed the adult and struck the windshield of the minivan.

The grown-up flinched and looked to see Tom struggling to get away from the other adult that had him in its grasp.

The adult bellowed and pointed at the boy scout.

Tom took out a hatchet and severed the hand of the adult that held him and began to run away as other adults chased him.

The officer however, still stood guard in front of the minivan.

"Shit, Tom's been discovered," Stan said.

"Fuck this," Lynn shot up and made her way towards the minivan.

"Lynn!" Everyone cried at once.

Lynn ignored them and rushed the guarding adult. She was too fast. Like a ninja. He didn't even have time to blink as Lynn jumped and smashed the mace into his face. The adult went down instantly.

Lucy, Lana, and Lola's hearts jumped for joy as they saw their older sister. They didn't even care that they'd just seen an adult get his face caved in.

"LYNN!"

"Did you miss me?" She asked them.

Unfortunately, the younger Louds cries of joy got the attention of the remaining adults. They all looked at once to see Lynn smashing the window to the minivan open.

Fatso howled with rage and ordered them all to kill the intruding kids. Even the blondes that were his personal servants charged the new arrivals. He was pissed. Nothing was going to ruin his barbecue.

NOTHING!

Stan swore as Lynn's fellow siblings rushed past him which prompted the others to follow. Now there really was no going back. He charged in after them. While Shade held back hesitant to help. But then he felt himself moving. He looked down to see his legs walking toward the football field.

"Stop," he told them. But they ignored him. He made his way towards the battle ground. Slowly.

Lynn screamed at the little kids to get out of the car and they tumbled all over each other trying to escape. Around them were the cries of kids in other cars begging to be rescued. Lynn didn't care about them. As cold as that sounded she was only there for her siblings.

She swung mercilessly as several greens surrounded her. She was then joined by her siblings.

Luna yelled at Lincoln to run away with the others. And he was about to when he noticed another group of greens making their way towards them from behind.

"Oh no. We're surrounded."

Lucy, Lana, and Lola began to panic. It was just like yesterday. Only this time they were certain the adults would rip them apart.

Rusty embraced Rocky and then he noticed the gun in the holster of the officer that Lynn killed.

He grinned. "Sweet," he said as he pulled it out of the holster and began to fire into the crowd of greens.

The loud bang caused several adults to retreat, which caused a passage to open towards the parking lot.

"We've got an opening!" Stan shouted. "Come on!" He grabbed his sister's hand and began to make his way back. Swinging at any adult that got too close.

"I knew you'd come to rescue me big brother. I just knew it!" Sally said.

Stan smiled down at her. "Of course. I'd never let anything happen to you."

Jake noticed that there were still kids trapped in other vehicles. He went over to Lexi and told her to smash the windows of the other cars and she did just that. As he helped kids out of the cars. He noticed that Rusty was aiming and firing too close to the pile of gas and propane tanks that towered over the field.

"Yeah! How do you like that?" Rusty shouted as he continued to fire into the crowd. Lincoln shouted at his friend to run as Rocky tugged on his older brother's shirt, begging him to stop. But he had a bloodlust. "See what happens when you mess with Rusty Spokes!"

"Stop it kid!" Jake shouted. "The tanks!"

"You're welcome," Rusty said back to him. And he fired one last shot. There was the sound of something banging on metal and then a small fire appeared right next to the large pile of tanks.

Everyone noticed the fire at once.

"Holy Halifax, Batman!" Shade cried and began to make his way through the metal maze of cars, away from the impending destruction.

Lincoln grabbed onto his younger sisters and they all began to run as fast as they could, with his older sister's following suit. He was suddenly back to day one. Running away from rampaging grown-ups with his sisters. Lincoln looked down at the ground watching his step. Making sure he didn't trip. Suddenly, before he knew it, a harsh vibration traveled through his entire body and a scorching sensation filled the back of him. He couldn't hear anything as he was running faster than he ever had before. He was gliding, the ground below him was a blur. He felt like he was watching a silent film. He felt his sisters flying right next to him. He then noticed that he was rocketing straight towards a car in the parking lot. He tried to stop, but he couldn't control anything. He stuck his hands out and braced for impact. But before he reached the car he was surrounded by a mess of tangled bodies and then descended into darkness.

* * *

Lincoln was in his bed. Surrounded by his toys, his video games, his comics, and most importantly his stuffed rabbit. Bun-bun. He felt safe as he brought Bun-Bun closer and closed his eyes. Trying his best to drift off to sleep. It was nice and quiet in the Loud House. Which was a rarity. But that didn't last long. Because the next thing he knew, Luna kicked the door open and screamed Lincoln's name.

Lincoln groaned. What could she want? Couldn't she see that he was trying to sleep? Why was she always so Loud?

Then Luan came into the room screaming a high-pitched scream. Lincoln groaned again. Why was she screaming? Shouldn't she be telling a joke or something. He brought the covers over his head to try and block out her screams.

Then Lynn rushed past them and began to pound her fists on him and shake him.

 _Dang it, Lynn. Why do you have to be so rough? My entire life you've roughhoused with me too much and forced me be your partner in whatever the heck sport you were into at the time. Just give me a break, please?_

Next was Lucy. She was normally quiet but this time she was shouting. Which worried Lincoln. She was always the quiet one. The emotionless one. The black sheep. Something must've been wrong if she was shouting. But what?

Finally, the twins showed up. Lana and Lola. Their screams were unmatched. Lincoln could hear them over the ringing in his ears. Where did that come from?

Lana and Lola continued to scream and eventually got up on Lincoln's bed and began to jump up and down.

Lincoln sighed. He wished Lori were here to sort his siblings out. Come to think of it, where was Lori? He hadn't seen her for a while. Same with Leni. Last time he saw them was when he hopped out of Vanzilla to go to school. He then noticed that Lisa and Lily were also absent.

It was weird not having the whole family with him. If more than half of them were in his room, then why wouldn't the rest be? He tried his best to focus on trying to figure out where they could be. But it was hard to do that over everyone's screaming.

Let's see, Lily's at the elementary school. Wait. Why was that? Maybe Lisa would know. He felt despair when he thought of Lisa. Something was nagging at him.

 _Dang it. Why can't I remember where Lori, Leni, and Lisa are?_

There were clouds in Lincoln's mind. Behind them was the sun. He waited for them to part. They began to move, shining clarity onto Lincoln.

 _Come on brain, don't fail me know. Let me remember. Let me remember where my other sisters are._

The sun finally shone down and dried up all the confusion. He suddenly remembered.

Lori, Leni, and Lisa were all dead.

"LINCOLN!"

Lincoln's eyes suddenly shot open and he saw his older sisters standing before him. Looking down. Their faces were overwrought with panic. Behind them was a massive fireball.

"What the…?" Lincoln then looked to his sides and saw Lucy, Lana, and Lola all huddled together in a ball. Staring at the blaze, terrified.

 _What happened?_ Lincoln wanted to say. But couldn't. His ears were ringing. And his head was killing him.

"Get up Lincoln, we need to get the hell out of here!" Luna shouted.

Lana and Lola were also shouting which caused Lincoln's head to throb even harder.

Lincoln grunted and then Lynn grabbed him by the arm and hauled him up.

"Move your ass!" She shouted, her terrified expression turned harsh.

Lincoln wanted to cry, his head hurt like hell and his vision kept becoming blurry for very brief moments. But he had to be strong. Strong for his sisters. He came here to rescue them and that's what he was going to do.

His older sisters then helped the younger Louds to their feet and told them to run as well.

Lincoln then noticed that he was surrounded by bodies. All strewn about on the ground. Some were adults. Some were kids. Lincoln wanted to vomit but fought the urge. He needed to focus on escaping.

He turned to run with his sisters when he suddenly noticed his friend Rusty and his brother Rocky lying on the hood of a car against a smashed windshield. Their eyes were closed, and they were both embracing each other. He shouted for them to wake up but then he noticed that they'd been impaled by a long chunk of metal. They were dead.

Lincoln brought a hand to his face and wiped the tears, and snot dribbling down his face before going back to running with his sisters.

Several feet away, Stan was crawling on the ground. Disoriented. The roar of the fire singed him. He looked around desperately for any sign of his sister. He saw his mace and picked it up. Then a pair of shoes came into view. An adult was standing over him. He quickly shot up and whacked the green as hard as he could, sending its body twisting out of the way. That's when he spotted his sister lying on the ground a dead adult was lying on top of her.

"Sally!" Stan screamed as he made his way over to her. He knelt beside her body and shook her.

"Wake up, please!"

Her eyes opened slowly.

"Big brother?" her voice was tiny and soft.

Stan was flooded with relief and he stroked her head.

Then she began to whimper.

"It hurts. I'm cold…I can see mom, dad, and Sammy."

"It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay." Stan told her as he began to drag her from the body that lay on top of her. "You're big brother's here. You're safe. I'm never going to let anything happen to you. I love you…"

Stan's heart stopped when he finally managed to pull her from under the dead body. The entire lower half of her body was missing. Entrails had taken their place. He then looked back at Sally's face and her eye's closed slowly and her head drifted to one side. Even her tears had stopped moving.

A ringing sound in Stan's ears took over everything. He collapsed next to his dead sister's body and screamed. He couldn't hear his screams, but he could feel them tearing at his throat. His neck was strained, and he rocked back and forth as he slammed his fists down on the ground. Leaving dents in the earth.

Suddenly another adult made his way towards him with his eyes fixed on Sally.

It reached down, and Stan grabbed his mace and brought it down on the preoccupied adults head several times until it was nothing but mush. All around him more adults began to rise. Drawn by his movement. He continued to swing his mace at the approaching figures. Each swing was harder than the last. He was going to protect his sister's body down to his last breath.

"Holy shit, are you guys okay?" Tom asked the Loud siblings as he reached them.

"Well, we're not dead if that's what you mean by _okay,"_ Luna told him. "Now come on, we have to get out of here!"

"What about everyone else?" The boy scout asked.

"Who cares?" Lynn said.

Tom shot her a jarring look.

"I do. Now did you see anyone else?"

"No, we didn't," Luna told him. "Look, I'm sorry but I'm getting my family out of here." Smoke began to envelop the entire field as the Loud siblings continued to flee.

Tom swore. Gripped his hatchet tightly and made his way back to the field. He swung at any adult that made a grab at him. His eyes darted back and forth looking for any signs of life. Then he spotted Stan Swinging his weapon furiously as he was surrounded by greens. There were so many that Tom couldn't even see what Stan was defending.

He called out to him. But there was nothing he could do as he took one adult out with a ferocious swing and as another adult male grabbed the mace. Stan and the man both tugged on each end of the mace while another adult wrapped its dirty hands around one of his shoulders and tried to take a bite out of him. Stan fought desperately to shake off the adult, but it was too strong. The kid twisted and turned as other grown-ups crowded around him. Then a haze of thick black smoke blocked off Tom's view of the skirmish.

"Stan!" Tom cried out one last time. But he knew there was nothing he could do for him. He swore again and ran away the way the Loud siblings had gone.

Jake was stunned. He had no idea where he was. One moment he was helping kids out of cars with Lexi and the next he was on the ground covered in blood, ash, and debris.

"Hello?" he called out. But there was no response. He was surrounded by smoke. He listened closely for any signs of life. Then he heard footsteps.

"Hello?" he repeated, as he looked around nervously. The footstep sounded heavy. Yet, he had no idea where they were coming from.

Then the footsteps stopped. Jake stood still, unsure of what to do or where to go. Then he felt hands wrap around his neck and he was lifted off the ground.

He screamed as whatever had grabbed him turned him around and roared. It was the humongous, fat adult that seemed to be in charge. Jake begged for his life between breaths, but it was a lost cause. His vision became blurry and the last thing he saw was the angry scowl of the beast.

Cooper woke up in the middle of the parking lot. Cut and bruised, but all right. He was still confused though. The last thing he knew he was next to Lynn and climbing over the hood of a car and then… he gasped when he noticed the huge cloud of smoke billowing into the sky. Tears began to fill his eyes. Could the others be dead?

The smoke made it hard to breathe as the Loud family continued to move around the messy jumble of cars. Why the heck did the adults have to make a mess of the field? It felt like they were in a junkyard.

Lincoln then noticed that that one girl who came here because of Luan was missing, _Maggie._ And so was Lucy's friend, Grace. He wondered where they were. Hoping they didn't suffer the same fat as Rocky and Rusty. He also wondered if his other siblings realized that they were gone as well.

They soon reached the parking lot and were quickly swarmed by other greens who had been attracted to the field by the explosion. Most of them had emerged from the high school. Many of them were teenagers. The Louds were afraid that at any moment, they'd see their oldest sisters Lori and Leni. But their thoughts quickly shifted to Luan who was brought to the ground by an adult who leapt on her from the top of a car. Luna and Lynn were about to rush to her aide, but even more adults began to climb over cars and pounce down on the family. Lincoln held his younger siblings as Luna and Lynn fought off the greens that had them pinned down.

Just then, a figure emerged from the smoke followed by a smaller figure. It was Maggie and Grace. Lucy's friend stuck close behind the older girl who stabbed the adult that was on top on Luan in the back of the head. The life went out of the adult instantaneously. She offered Luan her hand who smacked it away and told her to help her siblings. Maggie seemed bothered by the fact that Luan didn't thank her or grab her hand, but quickly shut it away and began to make her way to her siblings. Luan and Lynn barely needed her help though and quickly fought off the attacking greens.

Luna and Lynn turned back to their siblings. And Luna spoke

"Okay let's keep going."

They all huddled together and continued to advance when suddenly an almighty roar traveled through the smoke. Causing everyone's bodies to shake and rattle.

They all looked to see a shape moving in the smoke. It was like a blob. Completely unidentifiable, until it finally emerged.

It was the fat green. Its arms were spread out as it made its way towards the Louds. Its gaze was set on the Louds. They could tell he was angry. He blamed them for everything.

"Oh shit!" Lynn said. Which triggered everyone's legs to snap into gear.

They made their way towards an opening that was free of cars and other greens as the fat adult stomped after them.

The opening was like a light at the end of a long tunnel. It was only a few yards away. But a few yards might as well have been a few miles. They were all dead tired. Aside from Lynn. Who kept urging them all to run faster. But it was too late. The opening was blocked by even more greens. Luna and Lynn held their weapons up ready to take on the world. Lana and Lola began to cry. Lucy put her hands to her face. Luan, Maggie, and Grace stood next to Lincoln, they were shaking rapidly. Maggie tried to say something to Luan but couldn't. It sounded as if she was trying not to cry. Lincoln wrapped his arms around his younger sisters and closed his eyes. A calmness swept over him. He'd come to rescue his sister's and they'd almost succeeded. At least this time he got to hold them one last time.

Then they heard a sound. A sound the Loud family was all too familiar with. An engine. The sound of heavy metal crashing against metal. Everyone looked in the direction the noise was coming from. Even the greens. Fatso had also stopped to turn his attention away from the kids.

And that's when they saw it. Crashing through other cars, knocking them down like a rampaging monster destroying building. A large green and white vehicle with the word _Fung_ on the front of it.

The Loud family all gasped at once.

It was none other than their family van. The van that they'd all affectionately called: _Vanzilla._

They could see Shade in the driver's seat. A huge grin on his stoned face. He was driving the van straight towards the fat grown-up.

The fat man sucked in air through his mouth and held his hands out towards Vanzilla. But he was no match for the ancient tank of a vehicle.

He basically exploded when Vanzilla crashed into him. Everyone screamed as blood, guts, and body parts went flying everywhere.

Shade suddenly lost control of the vehicle and the van went careening straight towards a light pole.

Everyone stood, stunned at what they had just witnessed, mouths hanging open. Even the adults were shocked. Fatso was their leader. Without him, there was no sense of order.

Shade emerged from Vanzilla, shaken, but all right.

"Come on, move your donkeys!" he shouted, which broke the kids out of their stupor.

They all began to run as fast as they could, with a renewed amount of energy. They were going to make it. Shade had created another light at the end of another tunnel.

Lincoln looked to his right to make sure that his younger sisters were by his side. Even though he only looked away for a second. It was enough for a green to reach out of the thick black smoke and snatch him up.

He yelped loud enough to get his sister's attention. They all turned back to see him being held. Lincoln swung his arms and kicked at the green that clutched him. Its face was still obscured by the smoke.

"Lincoln!" his siblings all shouted at once.

Lincoln continued to swat at the grown-up that held him. He could sense his older sisters rushing to help him. Then suddenly, the figure that held him stepped out of the smoke which gave Lincoln a chance to get a good look.

Lincoln felt all the energy drain out of him and he stopped struggling as he stared into the cold, lifeless eyes of his eldest sister, Lori.

Now he was crying. His younger sisters all screamed. As his older sisters yelled at Lori to stop. But she didn't listen. None of her sisters could order her around when she was alive, so there was no way she'd listen to them in death.

"Lori…" Lincoln spoke, softly.

She brought Lincoln closer to her and opened her mouth to reveal dirty, rotten, blood-stained teeth.

Lincoln closed his eyes. He had no energy to fight back.

That's when all of Lincoln's older sisters slammed into Lori at once. Causing her to drop the young Loud.

"Stop! Don't!" Lincoln cried, as Luan dragged him away.

His sisters didn't need to be told. Luna and Lynn just shouted and waved their weapons madly to try and frighten Lori away.

The eldest Louds eyes darted back and forth, as if she were trying to decide which girl to attack.

Lincoln broke away from Luan.

"LORI!" he yelled, louder than he had ever yelled before. It caused all of his sisters to stop shouting. She looked in his direction. Even Luna and Lynn looked at him from their peripherals.

Lincoln's lips quivered as he searched for something to say. Fond memories of Lori raced through his mind. Ending with the day he hoped out of Vanzilla several hours before the blast. He suddenly remembered the one thing he wished he could've told her.

"I love you."

His younger sister's whimpered. Luan put both hands to her mouth. Luna and Lynn both stared solemnly back at their older sister.

"Yeah, sis," Luna said. "We love you. All of us. And we miss you."

Lori tilted her head to one side.

"Yeah," Lynn spoke up now. "I know there were times where you got on our nerves and bossed us around. But we know you only did all that because you loved and cared about us."

Luan stepped forward. "Exactly. You were like a third parent to us. Always checking up on us. Making sure we were all okay."

"You were like a lighthouse," Lucy said. "Always guiding us, giving us a sense of direction."

"Yeah, You're the best oldest sister ever. Always putting up with my us and being the best sister you could be," said Lana.

"I always wanted to be just like you when I grew up," Lola said. "You were the real princess."

Lori's began to blink. As her mouth continued to hang open.

The Loud siblings all wondered what was going on. Had they affected her with all the kind things they said about her. Was the real Lori Loud hidden somewhere deep in the conciseness of the infected teen that stood before them?

The glimmer of hope was short-lived as the look of familiarity morphed back into an angry, bloodthirsty scowl.

She held out her arms and flounced towards Luna and Lynn.

"Lori no!" Lincoln shouted.

Luna and Lynn began to back away. There was no hope for their sister. Yet they couldn't bring themselves to hurt her.

Just then, an arrow traveled straight through the back of Lori's head and stuck out of one of her eye sockets. She stood for only a second and then fell forward.

The Loud family all screamed and cried at the sight of this.

Luna and Lynn knelt by their fallen sister. There was nothing they could do.

Then Tom came up to them holding his bow with a satisfied look on his face.

"That was close. Are you all okay?"

They all looked at him, some with. Angry expressions, some with upset looks.

Lynn was the first one to accost him.

"Why did you do that?"

Tom's expression changed to confusion.

"Because that green was about to attack you that's why.

"That _green_ was our sister, Lori," Luna told him.

Tom looked at the body of the diseased teenager. "I'm sorry, but she's not your sister anymore."

Lynn grabbed a fistful of his shirt. And cocked her arm back to hit him. But Luna stopped her.

"Come on Lynn, there's nothing we can do now. We have to get out of here."

Lynn relented. The other greens were starting to come back to their senses. All the screaming and crying brought them back to reality and reignited their bloodlust.

Luna yelled at Lincoln and Luan to guide their younger sisters away while she and Lynn guarded the sides.

Lincoln and Luan urged the younger Louds along. Lucy didn't need much encouragement. But Lana and Lola were reluctant. Lincoln had to pick up Lola and grab Lana's hand.

He took one last look at Lori. Wishing that when he left Vanzilla on the morning of the blast was the last time he ever saw her. Because at least she still looked beautiful and not rotten with an arrow sticking in her head.

The greens began to shift towards them. Shade was shouting frantically trying to draw some of the greens away. But most of them were focused on the kids they surrounded. The opening was closing. They were about to be surrounded again. Luna, Lynn, Tom, and Maggie swung their weapons at several greens, but they were becoming overwhelmed. They were so close to the end. Only a thin wall of adults separated them from escaping.

Lincoln held Lola tighter as Lana wrapped her arms around his leg. His sisters fought and fought and fought. Luan held her scimitar up ready to be the last thing between her younger siblings and certain doom.

Just then, they heard more shouts coming from behind the thin wall of greens. The greens heard it too, because most of them turned their heads towards the noise while others began to retreat.

 _What could that be?_ Lincoln wondered. He then looked up to Luan who was looking towards the sound of voices. Then saw her eyes widen and a huge smile of relief come over her face.

"What is it?" Lincoln asked his sister. But before she could say anything they heard Luna and Lynn shouting. They saw where the voices were coming from as well.

"Help us, we're surrounded!"

Lincoln then heard the sound of slashing, cutting and chopping. And looked away from his sisters to see a large group of kids attacking the horde of greens. They were strong and well organized. The greens who foolishly tried to attack them were immediately taken down.

"Come on! This way!" A kid shouted once he saw the kids from the elementary school and they wasted no time. The older Louds rushed the younger Louds along. Swinging at any green who wondered too close.

Lincoln and his family were completely out of breath once they reached the safety of the new arrivals. They stood back and watched the kids finish the few remaining greens.

A girl walked up to them and asked them if they were okay. The Loud family all looked at each other and began to cry. Lincoln and his older sisters held the younger sisters while Tom, Maggie, Shade and Grace stood around awkwardly. They were finally safe.

Tom then stepped forward and extended his hand to shake the girls hand.

"Thank you so much for rescuing us…"

"Stacey," she said and shook Tom's hand.

"Well, Stacey. I'm sure I speak for all of us when I say, we really appreciate what you just did for us."

"Don't thank me, Thank Brock."

"Brock?"

"Hey Tom," A familiar voice said as Tom felt a hand slap him on the back.

The boy scout looked behind him to see Brock Howard with a big grin on his face.

"Brock!" Tom said excitedly. "It's so good to see you, man. Where did you come from?"

Brock told them about how a few of his kids stationed on the roof of the middle school saw the elementary school group run past their school towards the high school. He was worried because only a day earlier they saw a large group of adult's shamble past towards the high school. He decided to lead a group to see what was going on. And then they heard the explosion. So they double-timed it and made it just in time to save who was left of the elementary school group.

"Well we can't thank you enough, Brock," Tom told him.

Brock looked over to see the Loud siblings all huddled together, crying.

"What are the little kids doing here?" he asked.

Tom told him about the recent events and his eyes widened.

"Well we would've helped if you'd asked," he said.

"I wish we'd known that. We didn't want to put anyone else at risk."

Cooper suddenly appeared. Relieved to see that the Loud family was okay. He'd seen Brock's group arrive and deal with the horde of grown-ups.

"So is this everyone?" Brock asked.

"As far as I know." Tom said. Studying the kids from his group. The Loud siblings, Grace, Maggie, and Shade.

"Where's Stan?" Cooper asked.

Tom's face dropped. "He didn't make it," he said coldly.

Cooper just nodded.

"We've found someone!" a kid shouted. And the three looked to see some kids escorting a tough looking girl carrying an axe. It was Lexi.

"Where's Ethan?" she asked.

"Who?" Brock said.

She told him that he was a friend who distracted some of the greens, so they could rescue the kids trapped in the cars.

"I'm sure he'll turn up," Tom told her.

Lexi looked at the ground. "Jake's dead," She said. "I saw him get strangled by the fat one."

Brock was about to ask her who the fat one was when Ethan suddenly appeared.

"What the hell did miss and what the hell was up with that explosion?" he asked.

Lexi looked up surprise to see him still alive.

"You're alive!"

"Of course I'm alive. Those adults are slow."

Everyone got caught up. Ethan told them how he was able to outrun the adults but that they were most likely circling back. Not only that but even more adults were beginning to appear drawn by the explosion. Lexi then told him that Jake was dead, and Ethan wanted to breakdown and cry but he knew now was not the time.

Brock ordered everyone to fall back. And his group began to lead them to the middle school.

 **9\. Speck IV**

Speck watched as the adults dug into the bodies they'd been gathering. The stronger healthier looking one got to eat most of the spoils. Some ripped off the flesh with their teeth, while others tore into the flesh with their bare hands to get at the guts that awaited them on the inside. The Tower was the most ferocious when it came to devouring a body. His sledgehammer rested against a wall, as he stood and ripped off a huge chunk of flesh with his teeth. And swallowed it after only a few bites.

Speck wanted to look away, he felt sick. But at the same time, he was strangely fascinated by the feeding frenzy. They were like piranha's. One moment, a body had all of it's flesh and the next, it was nothing but bone. He prayed that the adults would leave as soon as they were done. He was running low on food and water and couldn't leave to scavenge until they were all gone.

Then he heard a boom in the distance. It was enough to draw his attention away from the group of brutes. He looked and saw a massive fireball coming from around the same area as the high school. Soon a thick black cloud of smoke began to rise into the sky.

Speck wondered what it could've been. Could it have been kids or adults being careless? Or was it just a coincidence. It's not like adults were around anymore to control things and prevent stuff like that from happening. Speck suddenly remembered a show called _Life After People._ About what would happen if every single person in the world were to suddenly disappear. He remembered how without people to look after things, structures and other objects would fall apart and crumble. Like if there were a certain thing that someone needed to look after to keep something bad from happening. It would show what would happen if things like that were left unattended. Sometimes things would explode: Like an oil refinery, or a place where methane gas was housed, or nuclear warheads.

Speck shook his head and emptied his mind of those dreadful thoughts. This explosion was nothing. Probably just caused by a random spark. However, he didn't know why the explosion occurred near the high school.

He soon looked back to The Tower's group. They noticed the explosion too. They watched the flames dance and the smoke rise. But soon went back to their meals.

Speck continued to wait as night fell. The adults had eaten all they could, and weaker feebler looking grown-ups fought over scraps. Eventually, The Tower picked up his sledgehammer and roared into the night to get everyone's attention. He pointed to the fireball that was still lighting up the night sky and he and his group began to advance towards it. Leaving behind a few weaker adults who weren't done eating.

 _Finally, they're gone._ Speck thought as the horde began to disappear behind other buildings. He waited a few more minutes to make sure they were really gone and decided to head back into the shop.

"Good news, dad. They finally left," Speck joked as he made his way back inside. His heart skipped a beat when he saw his dad standing up looking at him with murderous intent. He had escaped from the ropes that held him down. But how?

His question was quickly answered as his dad held out his hands to reveal that one was missing. Speck risked taking his eyes off him for a second to look at the ropes and saw his hand lying on the floor.

"Dad…" Was all Speck could say before he charged him.

Speck screamed again, warning his dad to stop but the monster kept coming forward.

"NO!" Speck reached down and pulled out a Glock. He took aim and fired one deadly accurate shot.

His dad went down instantly. Speck collapsed to his knees and wept.

"Why dad, why?" He screamed, although he already knew the answer. That thing wasn't his dad. His dad was gone. All the adults were gone. It was just him, A speck on the Earth. Just like Earth was just a speck on the galaxy, and how the galaxy was just a speck on the universe.

 **10.**

They all rested in what was once the teachers' lounge in the middle school. When they'd arrived, several kids had come up to them and asked them what had happened and what the explosion was about. But the elementary school group didn't feel like talking. So Brock led them somewhere more private. A place where they could gather their thoughts and have a bite to eat and drink.

Tom had told Brock everything. The adults breaking into the school, the Zealots, the execution, Lana leading kids to their deaths, the rescue mission.

Brock couldn't believe what he was hearing. Had he known these kids were going through such hell he would've offered them as much help as he could. He then went over to the Loud family. Who were all sitting on a couch,

"I'm so sorry for your loss," he told them.

"Thanks," was all Luna said.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Some pillows and blankets, we're too knackered to walk back to the elementary school. If it's all right with you…?"

"Of course, take all the rest you need. You're heroes after all."

Luna frowned. "No, we're not. We're just kids."

A few minutes later They were all comfy and cozy. The twins were already asleep. Tom, Cooper, Maggie, Grace, Shade, Ethan and Lexi were resting on other cushions as well.

"Comfortable?" Brock asked.

"Very," Luna answered.

Everyone thanked him.

"All right, rest easy. Enjoy you're stay," He joked before shutting the door and leaving the group to themselves.

Shade was out like a light bulb.

Cooper's mind was racing but he eventually drifted off.

Tom kept replaying the horror's in his head. Bodies of kids lying everywhere. Stan being surrounded by the adults. The Loud family making no attempt to save anyone but their sisters. Could he really blame them though? They were just kids after all, they weren't responsible for everyone. But at the same time, he couldn't help but harbor some resentment. Oh well. He'd have to wait to say something about that later. Right now, it was time for sleep.

Maggie was so lonely, her friends were most likely in the gym. But she couldn't face them. Not after leaving them and this school for what she hoped would be a better life. She lied there. Lonely, wishing she had someone to hold onto. She missed her mom. Why did she have to act so cold and detached from her. Had she known she'd leave her much sooner than she thought she would have been more appreciative of her, and more affectionate. Life was cruel. She had no one now. The only person she even remotely cared about was sleeping a few feet away. She wished she was sleeping next to her. But instead, she slept alone on a reclining chair with nothing but her misery.

Grace slept next to Ethan and Lexi. She listened to Ethan cry and Lexi try and comfort him. She couldn't believe how lucky she was. Was that the only reason they were all alive. Luck? Was she lucky when she survived at the beginning of the apocalypse, and when she survived the adults breaking into the school through the basement, and when the adults spared her and dragged her to the high school instead of eating them on the spot. Grace knew their luck wouldn't last forever. But then again, who needed luck when you had people who would risk life and limb for you?

The Loud family was huddled together. Arms wrapped lovingly around each other. Luna waited for her siblings to fall asleep before she did. Then she noticed Lincoln was still awake.

At the risk of waking her siblings up, she spoke.

"Can't sleep, Linc?"

"Yeah," the white-haired boy said. "That and my head is killing me."

That statement worried Luna. She knew Lincoln took quite a shot to the head when the explosion sent him fly into a car. "Well, just try to go to sleep, hopefully by tomorrow we'll be back at the elementary school and Sanjay can take a look at it."

Lincoln slightly nodded his head. And closed his eyes.

"Goodnight," Luna said and waited. Eventually she heard her only brother snoozing.

Luna breathed easy. The last twenty-four hours had been quite an emotional rollercoaster. Losing her younger siblings, getting them back and almost losing them again. She closed her eyes and the darkness grew and then melted away into a dream. She and her siblings were all floating. Drifting away into a realm of safety. Surrounded by nothing but their love for each other.

* * *

Brock stood on the roof of the middle school looking out into the distance. The fire at the high school was still visible. He was eventually joined by someone else. A girl.

"Someday, huh?" The girl said.

Brock looked back and smiled at the beautiful brown-haired girl whose name was Audrey.

"Yes indeed. But it was nothing compared to what the elementary school group went through. Tom told me everything about that school. How adults have been attacking it. They've lost so many. I wish there was some way I could've helped them in the last week."

Audrey put a hand on his shoulder. "It's not too late, you know."

"I know, which is why tomorrow I'm going to go over their and have a little chat with the kid in charge: Duke Melville."

Aubrey shuttered. "Him in charge of a bunch of kids? Now I wish we'd intervened sooner."

"Exactly, he's not very stable if you ask me. They've killed kids for crying out loud."

"What?" Aubrey's eyes widened. And Brock told her about the Zealots which just made her eyes widen even more.

"We're gonna need to form an alliance. We need to work together to beat these adults. At the end of the day, they're the enemy. We should be fighting them, not each other."

Aubrey agreed.

"Now let's rest up. We've got a big day tomorrow. Things are about to change."

 **20\. Christopher Savinski VIII**

Chris' army wasted no time laying waste onto the town of Huntington Oaks. They stormed the affluent neighborhoods where the spoiled rich kids hid in their big fancy houses. The kids weren't prepared. No one could ever be prepared for Chris' army. There were just too many of them. They surrounded mansions and swallowed them up like a blob. Once they made it in, the kids were gone in only a matter of seconds. Chris decided to stay behind and watch the action, with Crony by his side. The kid's screams and cries filled the night which made Chris smile. He deserved this. He's risked his life this country, suffered tremendously as a result. And all he had to show for it was a box of a house. But now, he was a king. A god amongst men. If these kids wanted to be saved they'd have to pray to him.

A point that was quickly illustrated when a little girl who looked to be about nine-years-old managed to escape from the horde. She saw him. Saw that he was different. She had no choice but to run up to him and beg.

"Please, mister! Please help me."

Chris looked down at the girl and smiled. He wrapped his arms around her as if to protect her. He then turned to Crony. Who was watching it all with his creepy smile.

"You know what my nickname was when I was in the army?"

 _No, what?_

"Dogman."

The girl looked up at him, confused. Wondering who he was talking to. She then looked at Crony and began to shake more rapidly than she already was.

"M-mister why are you- "

Chris picked her up and bit down on her nose. She screamed in pain. As blood filled Chris' mouth. He ripped her nose off completely and threw her down. She brought her hands up to her face and felt around for her nose. She began to scream even louder once she realized what Chris had done.

Chris began to howl like a wolf. Other adults surrounded the girl and devoured her while others howled with Chris.

As soon as it was all over Chris looked around. Admiring the nice houses that now belonged to him.

"Maybe I'll kick back and hang around here for a while. It's not like any other kids in the surrounding towns will be going anywhere."

He took a map out of his pocket and studied it. The next stop on his rampage was the town of Royal Woods. He looked off in the direction of Royal Woods and could swear he could see an orange glow in the distance. He dismissed it as just being a small fire. He'd seen orange glows just like it all over the place now. It didn't bother him.

He then turned back to his army of over a thousand and told them to hang loose and gather up bodies of kids and recruit as many soldiers as they could. There was still work to be done. But for now, he needed some shut eye. He couldn't imagine that anyone had worked harder than he had over the last week or so.

* * *

 _I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter._

 _I just wanted to say that dialogue is not my strong-suit. Which sucks because I want my next chapter to have plenty of dialogue, seeing as though there's going to have to be a meeting between the Middle School group and the Elementary School group. And that's just one scene I have planned that involves dialogue.  
_

 _Also, I have been rereading **The Enemy series** to get a better understanding of pacing and dialogue, and just because I love that series so much. I first read **The Dead,** and **The Fear** and **The Sacrifice** in mid-to-late 2013, and then **The Fallen** and **The Hunted** in late 2014, and then I read **The End** in November of 2015 (in only one day.) Unfortunately when I first started reading the series I didn't know that **The Dead** was a successor to another book, since it took place at the beginning of the apocalypse, Which was pretty stupid of me because it literally says it takes place before **The Enemy** before the first chapter begins. But I had no idea what it was talking about. So I was kind of confused as to who some of the character were when I started reading **The Fallen.** Anyway, I forget when I found out about the actual first book, but I finally read **The Enemy** in December of 2017, and I've been rereading the books ever since, like I said._

 _Okay, I'll shut up about that now.  
_

 _Anyway, I just want to say thanks again for reading this chapter. And Stay tuned for chapter 1 of Phase IV: The Terror._


	9. Teaming Up

**(I would've uploaded this yesterday but this website was down)**

 **All right, This chapter is going to be _way_ shorter than the previous one. I hope you guys didn't mind reading all that. I should've split it into two chapters, but I did what felt right at the time. I really hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's my first really big attempt at a dialogue oriented chapter instead of too much action. Which is why this took a little longer to write.**

 **Another regret I have is the fact that only a month has passed since the disaster began. What I should've done was have the Loud family take shelter in Lisa's underground bunker for like, a month or two. It just seems so unrealistic that the kids were able to do so much in less than a month. You'd think that they'd all still be running around confused. The spin-off, however, will take place one year after the end of this series.  
**

 **Also, I just wanted to say that sometimes when I read Loud House fanfics I imagine the characters as realistic looking, as in, how they would look in real life. As real people with realistic body proportions. If that makes sense? So, the whole time I've been writing this story I've been imagining all the characters as realistic looking. But that's just me though. I don't care if you guys still imagine them all as looking like cartoons.**

 **Also, follow me on Tumblr. My username is: _nicegodzilla_**

* * *

 **The Terror**

 **Chapter 1: Teaming Up**

 **1.**

The Loud family was thankful that they could sleep without Lisa appearing in their dreams. They'd slept well even though they'd just been through hell and back.

Luna was eager to get away from the middle school. It would be too awkward to see Sam again. Maggie also wanted to leave as soon as possible. She didn't want to see her friends. She'd pretty much abandoned them for her own selfish reasons.

They all stood by the door waiting for Brock to show up. He'd explained to them that he was going to go with them to the elementary school, so he could talk with Duke about both groups working together.

Finally, Brock showed up. With a few other kids with him. The three oldest Loud sisters recognized three of them as Jay, Eric, and Franklin. The boys who'd escorted them to the middle school around a week ago.

They all nodded to each other and Brock asked them if they were ready to go.

"We've been ready," Lynn told him. The Loud family was ready to go back to the elementary school and see Lily.

"Clyde must be worried sick," said Lincoln. "He probably thinks we're dead and that he's going to have to end up being Lily's dad." He smiled, his siblings were glad to see him making a joke. They were worried about him since he took quite a bump to the head when the explosion sent him flying into a car. Luna asked him how he was once they woke up and he told her that he was feeling better, but he should still get checked out.

Brock nodded and told Owen, the boy who guarded the front door to unlock it, and they all left into the morning light.

 **2.**

They made it to the elementary school in no time. They didn't see a single grown-up, and they hoped it would stay that way. Most of the grown-ups had probably been killed at the high school or were either still asleep.

Tom pounded on the door to the school. Luckily Doug was awake to answer it. His eyes widened when he saw everyone.

"Whoa. You're alive."

* * *

Everyone in the gym was flabbergasted to see that the younger Louds were alive.

"Lincoln!" Clyde cried out when he saw his best friend. Everyone looked and smiled to see him hurrying over with Lily cradled in his arms. It looked like he was about to cry. "I'm so glad to see you. When you all never came back after the sun went down… I assumed the worst."

Lincoln reassured his friend. "We're all right, man. We fought off a whole bunch of greens. Hopefully we'll never have to deal with anywhere near as many as there were at the high school."

Clyde nodded and handed Lily to Luna. "Don't worry, I took really good care of her. But I think she's happier if she's surrounded by her sisters."

The oldest Loud looked in to the youngest Louds eyes. Yesterday she wasn't sure if she was ever going to see Lily again. Now, she never wanted to take her eyes off her. However, it was important that she never took her eyes off her other youngest sisters. She turned to Lana, Lola and Lucy who were looking around the gym, taking note of how many kids remained.

"Where's Trinity?" Lana asked.

No one said anything.

Lana looked down at the ground and began to sob. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." Lincoln walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Lana then looked up at Clyde. "I'm sorry I hit you with Lily's diaper." Then she turned to Penelope. "And I'm sorry I tied you up and stuffed you in the storage closet."

They both forgave Lana, but Lana couldn't forgive herself. Plus, there were the kids who'd lost siblings because of her.

The Loud family all hugged each other again and then Lynn spoke.

"Just know this Lana, if we ever find handcuffs I'm going to cuff myself to you." Lana wanted to giggle but she didn't think she deserved to laugh.

"So, where's Duke?" Brock asked Tom.

"He's in the auditorium, I'll take you to him." They both began to make their way towards auditorium. Brocks group followed suit. As well as Cooper and a few curious kids who wanted to see what this new kid was going to say to Duke.

Only a few kids remained in the gym, the Loud family included.

Lincoln wanted to go talk to Sanjay. He asked Luna to walk with him to the nurse's office, but he might as well have asked all his sisters because they wanted to go with him.

"Why do you need to go there?" Clyde asked.

"Oh, I just took a little bump on the noggin. It's nothing serious," Lincoln lied. Just as he had lied to Luna when she asked him how his head felt earlier. In truth, his head was killing him. Every noise caused his brain to vibrate like a bass drum. "You just wait here with Lily please."

Clyde nodded. He thought his friend was dead a few minutes ago. He just wanted to hug him and spend as much time with him as he could, and now he was leaving again. Sure, he'd still be in the same building. But Clyde was getting some bad separation anxiety. Luckily holding Lily calmed him down. And petting Charles also helped his nerves.

Shade, Maggie, and Grace also stayed behind in the gym. Shade sat down on the bleachers, Maggie sat a few feet away from him wishing she'd gone with the Loud family. But she knew it was a family thing, no doubt they'd wonder why she'd want to go with them. Grace wandered away, surrounded by a few kids her age who began to bombard her with questions.

"Hey," Shade said to Maggie, who ignored him at first. "Hey, Little Miss Sunshine."

Maggie turned to him, annoyed. "What?"

"Why did you join us on that little expedition? You don't know anyone here."

Maggie sighed. "I was just bored."

"Bored or lonely?"

Maggie shot a cold stare at Shade. "What?"

"Come on, _Judy Moody._ I noticed that you can't help following around a certain someone with braces."

"You just got here, pothead. How can you be so sure?"

"You think I survived out there for three weeks by being stupid? I'm great at noticing things."

"Well notice this," She flipped him off. But Shade just smiled.

"Well, I guess that's one way to thank the person who saved your life," he said, referring to how he mowed down the fat adults with the van.

Maggie didn't say anything. Shade just shrugged his shoulders and took out another joint. As he lit it he noticed Maggie give him a sideways glance. She probably wanted to ask him where he got that thing but instead continued to ignore him.

Shade snickered, inhaled and leaned his head back getting lost in his own little world.

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here, Brock?" Duke said when Tom and a few other kids led the leader of the middle school group into the auditorium. He was really getting tired of doing this every time a new face walked into the auditorium. It reminded him of how sometimes when he was in class and a random student walked in for a random reason, like to give the teacher something. A random kid in that class would jokingly tell that student to get would in turn cause the kid to look at his friend and smile.

"It's nice to see you too, Duke," Brock said, with a smile.

"Brock's here to discuss somethings with you," Tom said.

Duke looked around and studied the group. He asked Tom where some of the others were. He told him that the Loud siblings were still in the gym last he saw them. And that they were able to rescue the younger Louds and then he told him how Brock's group rescued them and that they spent the night at the middle school.

"Wait, Where's Stan?" was all Duke said.

Tom shook his head and gave him a solemn look. Duke looked down at the ground and swore.

"Look Duke," Brock began, "the reason I'm here is because I want to talk to you about working together. I would've tried to help you sooner, but I was busy trying to make the middle school safe. So I apologize for not being able to assist you in any way, but I'm here now. So what do you say we get started."

Duke stood up. "What makes you think I'll need your help?"

Tom spoke up before Brock. "We've been to the middle school. They have a pretty good thing going. I say we work together."

Duke swore again. "Okay, fine. But let's go some place more private to discuss things."

Brock nodded. But Duke wasn't done talking.

"Also, I want all the older kids who went to the high school to rescue the little kids to attend this meeting, I'd like to hear about everything that went down."

 **3.**

"So, what seems to be the problem?" Sanjay asked Lincoln, who was lying on the cushioned table in the nurse's office. His sisters were all anxiously huddled together in the room.

There were other kids in the room who were still wrapped in bandages from injuries caused by the Zealots. It was clear that they were never going to be the same if they managed to survive their injuries. There were also other kids who were there because of stomach pains- or whatever. Lincoln was willing to bet that the injured kids thought that those sick kids were being wimps.

"Oh, it's just my head that's all."

"Is this about the white hair?" Sanjay asked. "I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about that."

Lincoln sighed. "It's not that. You see, I banged my head pretty bad yesterday."

"What happened?"

Lincoln told Sanjay about the explosion and how it sent him flying head first into the side of a car.

"Damn," Sanjay said. "Has your head been hurting since then?"

Lincoln had to tell the truth. "Yes."

Sanjay then asked Lincoln if there had been any other problems. He listed off some symptoms to which Lincoln said no to all of them.

Sanjay then studied Lincoln's eyes making sure his pupils were the same size.

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Good."

"How long?"

"I don't know? Maybe eight hours give or take."

Sanjay nodded and pondered that for a moment. He'd remembered that someone should always check on someone after a head injury. But the fact that Lincoln was awake and talking was a good sign. But he still thought he should take it easy.

"Well, for what my medical opinion is worth as a fifteen-year-old, I think you should just take it easy, rest up, and not do anything heroic. Hopefully it's just a concussion and nothing else. Like…uh… a fractured skull- or whatever."

Lincoln's sisters all gasped. Lola was the first one to speak.

"What if it is?" She asked, putting her arms on Lincoln.

"I don't know? It would be hard to tell without an x-ray machine. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"Will he die?" Lynn demanded to know.

Sanjay just shrugged. "Maybe."

Lincoln's sisters all cried out at once and hugged their brother, who tried desperately to reassure them that he was going to be all right.

"This is all my fault!" Lana cried. "If I hadn't left the safety of the school, none of this would've happened."

"It's okay," Lincoln told her. "You're just a kid, you didn't know any better."

After a few seconds passed. Sanjay spoke up again.

"Lincoln, if you don't mind. I'd like to keep you under observation for a while. Make sure you don't change for the worse."

"For how long?" The white-haired boy asked.

"Until I feel certain that you'll be okay."

Lincoln nodded. Meanwhile Sanjay had no idea what to do if Lincoln _did_ end up getting worse. He was just a kid too after all.

Then a knock at the door. It opened and a head poked in. It was Tom.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," the boy said, "But Duke wants you all to join us in the conference room."

"Can't you see we're busy?" Lynn said. And all the Loud siblings shot venomous looks at Tom.

Tom looked embarrassed. Then he looked at the white-haired boy.

Lincoln felt bad that his sisters were giving him difficulty.

"It's okay, guys. I'm not going anywhere." They all turned back to him with dreary expressions.

"But Lincoln…" Lynn began.

"I promise I'm okay. It's going to take a lot more than one measly concussion to get me down."

Lana and Lola wrapped their arms around Lincoln.

"We want to stay with you!"

"Duke and Brock only want you three to attend," Tom said, referring to Luna, Luan, and Lynn.

"Why us?" Luna asked.

"Because he wants everyone who went to the high school. And since Lincoln's out of commission at the moment, you three should suffice."

"What if we don't want to?" Lynn asked, sternly.

Tom sighed. "Look, this meeting is between us, and Brock and some people from the middle school. We're going to try and come up with a plan. A plan to make the world a better place. Come up with a way to beat these things. And your insight will be valuable as well. Since you've been out there and fought grown-ups too."

The Loud sisters looked at each other and then to their younger siblings. Who were looking at them with anxious expressions.

Lincoln then nodded at them.

"Fine," Luna said. "But not because Duke wants us to. We'll only go if it'll help make the world safer for them." She pointed to Lincoln and the younger Louds.

 _Always about them isn't it?_ Tom though to himself. "Okay then, let's go."

Before they left Luna strictly told Lucy, Lana, and Lola to stay next to Lincoln and to not leave the room.

They nodded, and the older Loud sisters followed Tom out the room and down the hall.

 **4.**

The conference room was dimly lit by candles. All the kids sat around a long conference table. Duke sat next to Joey as usual. And sitting beside them were Cooper and Shade. Maggie just sat at the end of the table completely uninterested in what was going on. She was only there because she knew Luan was going to be here too. On the other side of Duke was Ethan and Lexi representing the group from Indiana. Lexi had a hand on Ethan's shoulder who still looked upset about Jake. And across from them sat Brock with other kids from the middle school sitting next to him.

Tom and the Loud sisters entered the room, and everyone looked at them. It was just as awkward as when one them would enter a classroom a few minutes late and they could feel several eyes checking them out. Tom acknowledged where they were supposed to sit which was right between Maggie and Shade.

Finally, everyone was accounted for.

"Okay, everyone," Duke said, "before we get started I'd like to know some things first," he swiveled the chair towards the Loud siblings, "What was it like out there, at the high school?"

The Loud sisters looked at each other. They wondered why Duke seemed to be asking them specifically, since they weren't the only ones to go out there. But they guessed the fact that they only went out there because of their younger sisters maybe had something to do with it.

Luna spoke up. She told them everything. The fat grown-up, the fact that they were well organized. Saving her sisters. The explosion. How several kids died, how Shade saved them from the fat man and how they saw their oldest sister be put down right in front of them.

Duke and Brock listened intently until Luna was done and in tears. Luan and Lynn both put hands on her shoulders.

Brock asked everyone else for their statements as well. All of them but Maggie spoke about their actions yesterday. Once they were done Brock turned to Duke.

"How could you let them go by themselves?"

Duke looked offended. "Because, I'm a leader. I needed to stay here and look after everyone else."

The Loud sisters had heard that excuse once before, but Brock hadn't.

"Some leader you are." Brock scoffed.

"You think you can do better?" Duke demanded.

"Maybe, but first I want to hear how you've been running things in your own words. Like, let's start with how you dealt with those Zealots."

The room went quiet for a moment. It was hard to believe it was only a week ago when Zeke and his group pretty much caused the end of humanity by killing the only person who could've found a cure for the disease.

Duke was annoyed that Tom had told Brock so much about what had happened over the last few weeks. He looked at Joey and then back at Brock.

"Yeah, we had a little trouble with Zeke and his cult. He claimed he could hear God and when I tried to kick him out he and his group killed people, including Lisa. The girl who made that medicine that we so generously gave you."

Brock nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that. But if it helps, that medicine did go a long way."

Duke shrugged his shoulders.

"So, tell me what happened next."

"We dealt with them properly."

"Meaning?"

"We…we executed them," Duke whispered. Everyone in the room had somber expressions on their faces.

"All of them?"

"Well, no. Not all of them. We spared the children and this one girl who-"Duke paused and then looked around the room. "Has anyone told Mary about Stan.

No response.

They all knew Mary was going to be devastated to hear about Stan. Not that they cared. Whenever they looked at her all the saw was a girl who was acquainted with a crazy kid who pretty much doomed everyone to extinction.

"Who's Mary?" Brock asked.

Duke told him how she was part of the Zealots. And how she truly believed that Zeke was special- or whatever. How she was about to be executed when Stan spoke up and convinced them not too.

"Why did you spare her?"

"Because, unlike the other Zealots she was truly remorseful."

Brock leaned back in his chair and took it all in. _Kids killing kids._ The world had only gone to shit less than a month ago and it was already to the point where kids were staging executions.

"Let me ask you something, Duke. Has it hit you that you're already responsible for the death of kids."

Duke reacted as if he'd been physically struck. "What do you mean?"

"Think about it. It's only been a few weeks. A few weeks since our parents left us. And we've already become savages."

Duke stood up so fast that it caused the swivel chair he was sitting in to careen straight into a filing cabinet behind him. "We only executed them because they were dangerous."

"Dangerous, yes. But does that give you- a fifteen-year-old- the right to play judge, jury, and executioner?"

"Did you come here just to grill me about that? As far as I'm concerned this is _my_ school. I'm the leader! These kids do what I say! And if I got to kill a few weirdos to get my point across, then fine. But really, you weren't here. What would you have done?"

Brock thought about that question for a few seconds and then spoke. "I don't know? But one thing I won't do is kill kids."

"These weren't kids," A voice said. Everyone then looked to see Lynn standing. "These were killers through and through. I would've gladly killed those kids myself if Joey weren't here to do the dirty work."

Luna tried to put a hand on Lynn's arm, but she shrugged her off.

"So, quit this _holier-than-thou_ attitude when you have no idea what we've been through."

"You're right," Brock admitted. "I don't know what you've been through. And I hope I never do. But, let me ask you all something," He paused and looked around at everyone in the room. "Is this really what you all want?"

"What do you mean?" Duke asked.

"I mean this," Brock waved his arm acknowledging everything around him. "This life. Living in this school. Fighting the very people who used to look after us."

"Of course not," Duke said.

"Then why did you become the leader of this group?"

"There has to be a leader. Someone to make the tough decisions and I've made mine, just like I'm sure you've made yours."

Brock thought back to how his parents treated him. They always pushed him to do his best. To try his hardest. To be a leader. The question was: what would Duke's parents have wanted for him.

"You know, coming from a military family. My parents were always trying their best to prepare me for the real world. They told me it wasn't going to be easy and to always expect the unexpected. Except an apocalypse isn't exactly what I expected, anyway, what I want to know is did your parents ever prepare you for anything?"

Duke thought for a few seconds. He remembered his parents as they were, kind and caring. They always told him that they loved him, they were never too hard on him. The only person that was hard on Duke: was Duke. Ever since his sister disappeared he tried his best to make his parents proud. Even in death, he hoped that they were looking down on him watching him take control and try and make things right.

"No, they didn't, I was still just a kid- I mean- a teenager. How was anyone supposed to be prepared for an apocalypse? Especially kids."

"Exactly, I highly doubt they'd want you to put so much stress on yourself, so why are you doing this?"

The Loud siblings wanted to scoff at that statement. What exactly _did_ Duke do besides sit on that fake throne on the stage of the auditorium?

"I'm doing it for them, to show them that I'm a good kid. I want to help people, that's why I took control. But you're right, I don't want this. I want my mom and dad back, that's all any of us want." Duke began to cry as he sat back down in his chair.

Everyone looked at each other awkwardly as Duke's sobs were the only noise in the room. They all then began to think about their parents.

The Loud sisters all thought of their parents. Always so supportive, so loving and caring. They loved all kids equally and always tried their best to make their lives better by supporting what they did no matter how hectic things got. They both had the patience of a million monks.

Maggie thought of her mom. So nice and caring. How she always tried her best to make her happy. And how did Maggie repay her? By giving her attitude and constantly telling her she hated her and that she wished she was never born. She'd even bring older boys home just to piss her off. Even though she herself didn't even like boys.

Cooper thought of his parents. They were an active family. Always doing things. Always spending time together. They even once competed in the Royal Woods Ultra Extreme Ninja Competition. He missed those days.

Ethan thought of his parents. Both were sports fanatics they bled blue and white for the colts, and blue and gold for the Pacers. They'd take him to sporting events every chance they got. He'd probably spent more time in Indianapolis than in his own house. Indy sports was almost all he knew. It wasn't much help now though, but his parents taught him that a good athlete should always keep a level head. And to never let his emotions, get the better of him. That helped him more than anything. He was a calm kid. But right now, he couldn't help but let his emotions take control as he realized just how much he missed his parents.

Tom thought back to the many hours he'd spent with his dad. He was a Scout leader and he'd taught Tom everything he knew about the wilderness and survival and other basic skills. Tom wished that there could be more time to spend with him. But that would never happen. Not again. Not anymore.

Shade thought about his mom. She was a single parent. Always working hard to provide the best life she could for him. But he just spent all his time alone in his room smoking marijuana, playing video games and watching mind-numbing TV. She'd catch him smoking several times and scold him and then take away his stash, but he'd always get more. He never learned.

Joey though back to his dad. He didn't miss him one bit. He was an asshole who'd constantly berate his only child. He was glad he was dead.

Brock had done it. He'd convinced Duke that he couldn't do this. Now he had to convince him to let _him_ take charge.

* * *

"Okay, Brock, so what do you suggest we do?" Duke asked him after everyone had calmed down.

"First things first: we need to set up short-term goals and long-term goals."

"Have you thought of any?"

"Well, I can think of one off the top of my head, to put it bluntly, we need to kill all of the hostiles."

There was some murmuring amongst everyone.

"Hostiles?" Duke said.

"Yeah, hostiles. That's what my group at the middles school call the adults," said Brock. "What do you call them?"

Duke told him.

"Greens?" Brock chuckled. "That's a pretty silly name if you ask me."

"It's accurate- unlike hostiles," Duke retorted.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for starters, the grown-ups are green so everyone knows what we're talking about when we say, 'there are greens out there.' Meanwhile, hostiles could mean anything: adults, animals, other people…"

Brock nodded. "I see your point. But what about when people say greens as in vegetables?"

Duke wanted to laugh. "Who says greens anymore. We can just say vegetables…or whatever."

Brock nodded again.

"Any other goals, Sarge?" Joey asked this time.

"Well, yes actually. I think another thing we need to do is look for other groups of kids. We can't be the only ones left. Safety in numbers."

There was even more whispering, then everyone nodded in agreement.

"What else?" Duke asked.

"We need more people to fight and scavenge. Meaning we should teach kids how to fight, so that we can make looking for food and supplies safer. Plus, we need to learn how to plot land so we can grow even more food."

"I'm glad you mentioned that," Duke said. "We've been to the Winston's farm in the outskirts of town. They spared us some milk once because we have a baby here. Hopefully we can convince them to lend us some animals to breed and make more food. As well as teach us how to plot land and grow food."

Brock enthusiastically clapped his hands once and pointed at Duke. "There ya go, buddy. That's a great plan."

Duke smiled, then a thought crossed his mind. "Who are we going to get to go back there again? Last time a group of kids went, they got there with no problem at all, but on their way back they were ambushed and chased by a group of greens, luckily, they were able to escape. But they said there was no way they were ever going to go back out there.

"I don't mind going," Brock proudly proclaimed. "I'll lead an expedition of skilled fighters we'll be more prepared.

"Great," Duke exclaimed, knowing full well that there was no way he would ever go on an expedition with Brock- or anyone for that matter.

"Any other goals?" Joey asked again.

Brock sat still for a few seconds and then a hint of awkwardness came across his face and he blushed.

"Well one thing is- and this won't be a thing to worry about for a few more years- but, seeing as though a large portion of humanity has been wiped out…we'll need to see about repopulating.

Everyone in the room made a sound of either mirth or aversion.

"Really, dude?" Luna said, disgusted.

"Yeah, really."

"Count me out," Maggie said, no one heard her though.

"What if some of us don't like being with women in that way?" Joey asked.

"And what if some of us don't prefer to be with _men_ in that way?" Ethan's friend Lexi asked.

"This will only be for people who want to have kids." Brock said.

"Who's going to want to have a kid in this messed up world?" Luna asked.

"Well, we're going to have to do something," Brock told everyone as much as he told her.

"Easy for you to say," Lynn said. "You're not going to be the one doing the heavy lifting."

"Look, look, like I said, we'll deal with this in a few years okay?"

 _If we live that long._ Maggie coldly thought to herself.

Brock continued. "Right now, I want to worry about the adults and maybe teaming up with other groups of kids and working together to create a better future for all of us."

"Good enough for me," Duke said.

"Great," Brock said. "We'll get ready, set up a party of volunteers to go with me to the Winston's farm- hopefully they're still there- and hopefully they'll help us out. In the meantime, we should start teaching anyone who's big enough to hold a weapon how to fight." He then turned to one of the kids from his group. A tall boy wearing blue short-sleeved shirt and black shorts. "Matt, hurry back to the middle school and tell Aubrey about what we've discussed today, I'm going to stay here and get some more things sorted out."

The boy nodded and hurried out of the room.

Brock was happy that Duke was willing to work together. He was looking forward to the future. However, talking about what they planned on doing was the easy part. Doing what they panned on doing was a whole different story.

 **5\. Speck V**

 **A few days later…**

Speck was back on the roof of the shop. Lying on his back staring up at the sky. Watching the clouds slowly drift by slowly like giant sea creatures swimming in an ocean. Only the sky was bigger than any ocean. And the clouds were bigger than any sea creature. He used to love laying down in the middle of a field and staring up at the sky, seeing nothing but the vast shade of azure. For a moment it was just him and the great big sky.

Then a sudden sound grabbed his attention. He instantly sat up and crawled over to the parapet. He was afraid of what he was going to see but he lifted his head up anyway and saw…nothing. He looked around for whatever made that sound and was about to give up when he saw it.

A dog.

A medium-sized dog with short tan fur. It kind of looked like a Labrador Retriever. It had knocked over a metal trash can and was rummaging through the contents that had spilt over.

Speck felt sorry for the dog. He could see it's ribs through its fur. The poor thing was hungry, starving even. He wondered how long this dog had been roaming around. It was luck to have lasted this long. But not lucky enough. Because now that Speck had spotted it. He knew what he had to do.

Speck was hungry too, and he needed food. He hurried back down into the shop and tried his best to ignore his dad's body that was wrapped in tarp in his office. Speck had decided to use a crossbow since it was silent. He couldn't risk making any noise.

He hurried back up and saw that the dog was still poking through the trash. Speck leant on the parapet and took aim. He didn't like what he was about to do to man's best friend. But it would be better for the dog since it would be quick and painless, unlike starving to death or getting torn apart by diseased adults.

He started to squeeze the trigger as thoughts of his first animal kill filled his mind. He was seven when his dad took him into the woods for his first hunting trip. When they spotted their first buck Speck was hesitant to shoot it, but his dad told him that he wasn't leaving until he killed something, so he pulled the trigger and the buck went down. His dad was proud of him. But Speck wasn't proud of himself.

He shook that day out of his mind and came back to reality. Before he knew it, the arrow flew, and the dog went down instantly.

Speck watched as the dog twitched for a few seconds and then went still. Speck sniffed and wiped his face with his hand. He then waited for a few seconds to make sure no adults heard what had just transpired. As soon as he was sure there was no one around he hurried back down into the shop and grabbed a key to unlock the front door. As he made his way to the door he began to think. He should probably leave the crossbow behind, but still take a small firearm with him. Maybe a Glock. He decided on a Glock 17 loaded it up and put it in a holster around his waist.

He then took a deep breath, unlocked the doors, looked around and went out. He only took a few steps when he decided to go back and lock the doors, just in case. He crept up to his kill and studied it for a few seconds once he reached it. Admired it even. He was proud of how accurate he was. He then picked up the lifeless animal and began to make his way back to the shop.

 _Mission accomplished._ He told himself when he made it back to the doors. He set the dead dog down and took out his key. He was about to shove the key in the keyhole when he heard heavy footsteps coming straight towards him.

He froze.

The footstep got closer and closer and he snapped his head to his left where they were coming from. His eyes almost shout out of his head when he suddenly saw _him_ charging directly at him. Along with several other adults.

The Tower.

His face was contorted into a look of fiery, hot rage. As if he was pissed that Speck had invaded his territory. Last Speck had seen of him he and his gang had left to maybe go investigate a fire that could be seen in the distance. But a few days had passed and now they were back. Speck was too focused on watching the area they'd left through, which was the shop's left-hand side, that he neglected to focus on the area on the right-handed side of the store. The Tower and his army had most likely gone in a circle.

Speck screamed and tried his damnedest to put the key into the lock, but his hands were already shaking like a magnitude ten earthquake in his body. He looked back again, and The Tower was already swinging his sledgehammer.

Speck jumped back and fell backwards as the sledgehammer crashed into the door of the shop. The sound was so intense it made his body tremble even more than it already was. He was also surprised that the building didn't crumble. He then realized that he dropped his key. He risked looking around for it but couldn't see it. He could sense The Tower about to strike again so he looked and sure enough, his weapon was raised and about to come crashing down on him.

Speck rolled out of the way and the hammer slammed down on the ground with such force, that it probably could've caused the pen on any seismograph within thirty feet to break.

Speck was quick to get to his feet before The Tower got another chance to take a swing at him again. He ran as fast he could. Even though there were possibly hundreds of adults chasing him, he felt like the loneliest kid on the face of the earth.

He looked back to see several adults fighting over the dead dog. While The Tower and a few other grown-ups continued to chase him. He swore at himself for being so careless. A few minutes ago, he was safe and sound in hid dads hunting shop. Now, he was at the mercy of whatever chased him, or lurked in the shadows. Then he swore again as something whizzed past his head. It looked like a brick. Speck picked up the pace. He wasn't sure how fast these things could run, but he knew how fast he could run. He could feel his gun at his side, nestled securely in its holster. Speck had forgotten all about it. He wondered if he should pull it out and take a quick shot at The Tower.

Nah. Too risky. He needed to focus on getting the hell out of here. But the question was: Where was out of here?

Speck shook his head. Tears and sweat were running down his face. He'd probably never see his dad again- or his dads body that was.

A few minutes passed. Speck had gotten away. Although he wasn't sure how far was safe from the adults. How far they'd chase someone. Luckily, he hadn't encountered a single adult as he ran. He wondered if they were all behind him. Apart of The Tower's group. Was he the boss of every adult in the world now? Or were there other bosses in different areas?

A few more minutes passed. Speck wasn't sure how far he'd run but he needed to take a rest. His whole body was aching, and his chest was burning. He decided on a random house and went inside. Luckily the door was unlocked.

As soon as he was inside he locked it, leant against it and slid down. Breathing heavily. He had never run that fast or far before, and he hoped he never would again.

He brought his hands to his face and focused more on crying now. He couldn't believe how close he'd come to dying. Thanks goodness he went to the bathroom a few minutes before that dog appeared or he probably would have had a Charmin moment.

For a brief moment, he wondered why those bears were so obsessed with shitting. And then he wondered why that question even entered his mind.

He began to laugh. He was alive. That was all that mattered. After a few more minutes he stood up and dusted himself off.

Whose house was he in anyway?

He looked out the window in the front room to make sure no one was around and began to explore. He started in the kitchen. There was rotten fruit, no use to anything but gnats. Then he spotted an open box of cheerios on the kitchen counter. Speck scooped it up and began to chow down. He then made his way into the living room and noticed some pictures on a fireplace mantel. He studied them. One picture was of a family of five. A mom, a dad, a son, and two babies. He then looked at some more pictures. He noticed something different about them. Instead of there being five people there were now only three. A mom, a son, and a daughter. The boy looked kind of familiar. However, Speck wondered where the dad and the other kid were.

Speck quickly dismissed the pictures. He had more important things to worry about; like the stairs leading to the second floor.

He cursed himself for forgetting to look upstairs first. Lucky for him the upstairs were empty as well. Three empty rooms that looked how they'd probably been left the day of the blast. But something bothered him. In the parent's room the bed was well made. And in a room that looked like it was the girl's room the bed was well made too. However, in the room that looked like it belonged to the son, the covers on the bed were all messed up and there was a water bottle on the nightstand next to the bed. It still had condensation as if it were recently used.

Speck walked around the room to look for more signs of activity but found nothing. He then wandered over to the window in the room that looked out into the backyard and noticed something that almost made him drop the box of cheerio's he was holding. In the backyard, sitting on a porch swing, was a person. A kid by the looks of it.

Speck's heart skipped a beat. He wondered if this kid lived here. He did have black hair just like the kid in the pictures. But he was facing away from him. He then wondered if he should go down there and say something or just run away.

He quickly decided to go down and say something. After all, Speck was lonely, and he should probably warn this kid about The Tower, just in case he was still on his way.

Speck wasted no time going down stairs and as he reached the patio door, he stopped. He took his gun out of his holster- just in case. Then he slowly opened the back door and crept up to the kid.

He wondered what he was going to say to this kid. Should he call out to him or just walk in front of him?

The kid was using his feet to lightly swing the porch swing back and forth.

Speck gripped his pistol tightly. As he got closer he noticed a weapon on the ground next to the kid. It looked like a mace.

Speck crept close and closer. There was no way this kid wouldn't be able to see him out of the corner of his eye, now.

Finally, Speck stepped in front of him, his gun slightly raised.

The boy _was_ the same boy in the photographs. Speck finally recognized him as someone he'd known from school.

They were both staring at each other. The boy didn't seem to care that Speck had wandered onto his property.

Then Speck decided to speak. "Hey, Stan."

 **6\. Christopher Savinski IX**

 _So why did they used to call you Dogman?_ Crony finally got around to asking Chris as he bit into the severed leg of a dead kid.

Chris smiled. "Well, I wasn't always the handsome, clean-shaven man you see before you today. You see, back when I first joined the military, I was a hairy son of a bitch, unfortunately they had to shave it all off. But let me tell you, I was so hairy that they took a picture before they shaved me and then after. There was so much hair. I was like a werewolf. So, they came up with the name: Dogman."

Crony nodded. He and Chris were sitting on a mansion's third-story balcony, looking off into the distance. However, other mansions blocked their view from seeing too far. Below them was Chris' army. Well over a thousand of them, a lot of them were fighting over remains of dead children.

Meanwhile Chris was enjoying himself. He could stay in this mansion his entire life if he wanted to. Maybe let the other adults go off on their own. But the other adults wouldn't leave. If they stayed, they'd eventually starve to death, die and stink up the place. He couldn't have that. Plus, he needed to eat children too. So instead, he decided that in a few days' time he'd lead them to the next town, _Royal Woods._ And devour all the children that resided there. But for now, he'd relax and enjoy this moment of peace and luxury.

* * *

 **THE ENEMY IS NEAR  
**

* * *

 _Okay, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'll try my best to have the next chapter out as soon as possible. The thing is, I have to think things through because- like I said before- I have an idea of what's going to happen as in: I have some big scenes planned. My only problem is writing scenes leading up to those big moments. Which is why I really want to finish rereading **The Enemy** series before I get too far into the next few chapters. This is the phase where the Royal Woods group battles Chris' army after all.  
_

 _As always, stay tuned for chapter 2 of The Terror._


	10. Back Out There

**Wow! 5k views. That's 5k more than I expected. I can't thank you all enough for taking the time to read my story. One big goal of mine would be for one of the more popular Loud House fanfic authors to read this story. (I'm sure you know who they are) They don't have to like it. I just want them to maybe read one chapter and leave a review of their honest opinions. But if I never get noticed by them then that's okay as long as I have you guys.  
Thanks again!  
**

 **IDEA: You know what? I just thought of something. It's something I wish I thought of long before I started writing this series. An AU where all the Loud siblings are the same age: 14, since that's the cutoff age in The Enemy, Only they're not related. If anyone wants to make a series like that I'd love to see it. I'd do it myself but that would require me to come up with more ideas. And so far I'm focusing on putting all my ideas into this series. (And the spin-off) That doesn't mean I won't write a series like that someday though. If I feel like it. Although I 'd have to put a fresh spin on it to keep it from being too similar to this series.  
**

 **Anyway, please enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 **The Terror**

 **Chapter 2: Back Out There**

 **1\. Speck VI**

Speck waited a few seconds while Stan just scanned him up and down. Things were getting awkward. The two boys hardly knew each other, and for all Speck knew, Stan could be the only other living person in the world now.

"Hey, earth to Stan," Speck said as he waved his free hand.

After a few more seconds of silence Stan finally spoke. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"My names not important, you can just call me Speck." Stan nodded slightly. "And as for what I'm doing here…" Speck stopped and though about how he was going to explain to Stan about The Tower and his army. There was no time to think. He had to just hit him with it. "Look dude, there's not much time to explain but we need to go, now. There's a large adult with a sledgehammer and a mob with him as well. I think they're on their way here, as we speak."

Stan's heart skipped a beat and he planted his feet firmly on the ground to stop the swing from moving. Memories raced through his mind: He and his group spotting a big man with a sledgehammer who seemed to be in charge of a group of adults. His friend Jeremy getting scared and then getting bitten by an adult hiding in a dumpster. The group of adults chasing them. Them running into the church and meeting Zeke and his group… Stan shook his head to try and force himself to forget about all that.

"Why are they coming this way?" he asked.

Speck told him.

"Shit, what are we going to do?

"We're going to run, that's what we're going to do," Speck said, as he placed his gun back in its holster.

Stan chuckled. "I guess I can't argue with that plan." He sat up and grabbed his mace. He looked to see Speck admiring the weapon.

"Where'd you get that?" He asked.

"Long story," Stan said. "Where'd you get _that_?" he acknowledged Speck's gun and Speck simply told him that he got it from his dad's shop.

They both still had several more questions for each other but for now, they had to get the hell out of dodge. Stan took one last look at his house as they ran he wished that he could've brought a picture of his family with him, but he just wanted to forget about his family. Forget about everyone that had ever been in his life. He tried to convince himself that it would be better that way. He'd drive himself crazy if he kept thinking about his mom, his long dead dad, his sister. Everyone at the high school. A small bubble of rage brewed inside of him. _It was all their fault,_ he thought, as the faces of a certain family flashed through his mind. He didn't know what happened to them, but he hoped they were dead.

He shook his head again. None of that mattered anymore. All that mattered was getting away. Getting far away from this place.

 **2.**

"What do you mean you want to go with them?" Luna shrieked.

"I mean _I want to go with them,_ " Lynn said. "I hate being cooped up in this school. My body demands action, and I'm not going to get any by simply lingering around this place." She waved her arm around acknowledging the entire building.

She and Luna were standing in the hallway right outside the nurse's office where Lincoln was still resting up. His younger sisters and Luan were still by his side, they had hardly left his side in the few days he had been there. They weren't sure how much longer he needed to be in there. He never complained. He was more worried about them than he was himself. All the time he'd been there he'd constantly reassured them and told them not to worry. That was Lincoln all right, he seemed to care more about his sisters than himself.

Luna and Lynn's raised voices drew Luan out of the office. "What's going on?" She asked, her voice small and fragile.

Luna told her, and Luan's eyes widened.

"Are you nuts?" She said to Lynn. "Why would you want to go back out there after everything we've been through?"

Lynn sighed she really didn't feel like explaining herself anymore but did so anyway. "Because, they're gonna need good fighters to help with their little mission. And I for one want to bash some heads in." Lynn made a swinging motion with an imaginary bat.

Luna brought a hand to her face and slightly squeezed the dorsal bridge of her nose in exhaustion. "I'm sorry Lynn, but I can't let you go."

"And just how do you intend on doing that?"

Luna pondered Lynn's question. She could tie her up and lock her in a storage closet like Lana did to one of the girls in the gym. She could break every bone in her body to prevent her from being able to move. Like Lincoln had said before they embarked on the mission to the high school. But that would be a little extreme.

"I don't know?" Luna finally admitted. "I guess I can ask nicely: please don't go."

Lynn shook her head and crossed her arms. "Sorry, but my mind is made up."

Luna and Luan exchanged glances. Luan seemed to be pleading for Luna to try harder to convince Lynn not to go. But Luna knew how stubborn Lynn was. There was only one thing she _could_ do.

"All right then, if you're going, then so am I."

"What?" Lynn and Luan both said at the same time. Lynn uncrossed her arms and slightly recoiled at Luna's statement. "But-but-but…" They both stammered.

"What?" Luna asked. "If I can't stop you, I'll join you. I have to protect you after all."

"No, you don't. I can look after myself."

"Sorry, but my mind is made up." Luna said, with a clever grin.

Lynn balled her fists, but before she could say anything Luan spoke up.

"Then I'm going too." Luna and Lynn both jerked their heads towards her. They were surprised to see a confident look on her face, even though she looked somber a moment ago. Her sister's confidence must have given her a jolt of courage.

"Why?" Luna asked.

"Because, I'm tired of being scared and helpless. I want to be useful… I want to be brave." She was on the verge of tears now.

Luna put a hand on her shoulder.

"You are brave," she assured her. "Don't you remember those other times you went out into the badlands with us?"

Luan nodded. Sure, she did go out with them, but she didn't really do much. She was too scared. She thought back to when Stan tried to make her kill a diseased teen. Now however, was as good a time as any to make a move.

"Well we're going to have to go tell the others," Luna said. "They're probably not going to be very happy though."

* * *

"What?" Lana and Lola both cried. "You can't go out there. It's dangerous."

"Don't worry," Luna told them. "We'll be fine. We'll be with other people. People who know how to fight. We'll be back before you know it."

That did little to ease the twin's nerves. They looked back to Lincoln who was still lying on a recovery couch with Lucy standing next to him, both starring at their sisters.

"Do you have to go?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm afraid so." Luna responded. "Lily's going to need more milk to drink. So, we'd feel better if we were the one's getting it for her."

Lincoln looked unsure, but he nodded anyway.

"Well please, just be safe."

The twin's mouths opened in shock. How could Lincoln be okay with them just up and leaving?

They threw themselves at Luna and wrapped their arms around each of her legs

"Please don't go!" They cried.

Luna places a loving hand on their heads. "Don't worry. Like I said: We'll be with a large group. Heck, we've been out there with less people and still ended up just fine." The Twins looked up at her. That seemed to calm them down a little. "For now, just stay here with Lincoln. We don't want him getting lonely."

Lincoln scoffed. "When have I ever been lonely?"

The twins let go of Luna's legs and they all hugged.

Once it was time for the older Louds to head towards the exit they said their goodbyes. But then Lincoln repeated something Luna had said a while ago.

"Don't say goodbye, say 'see you later.'"

* * *

In the gymnasium Shade had taken a puff of his joint and was already in la-la land. Around him were kids discussing plans. Plans involving heading off towards the outskirts of town to go to a farm.

"So are you going to go with them?" A voice asked him, and he turned to see Mary Jane sitting next to him. Shade was glad to see that she was back.

"I don't know?" He told her. "Why would I?"

Mary Jane shrugged. "It could be fun."

"Fun?" He retorted. "What could be fun about going out into the unknown. Where everything wants to kill you? I've spent enough time out there thank you very much." Shade then felt someone looking at him. He turned to see a dark-haired girl staring at him judgmentally. It was Maggie.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked.

"Mary Jane," Shade pointed to an empty spot on the bleacher. "She's my best friend, say hi to the goth girl, M.J."

Silence.

"Why won't you say hi, M.J.? Oh, that's right. You're not real." Shade chuckled.

Maggie raised an eyebrow. And people thought _she_ was weird.

A set of doors in the gym swung open and in walked a group of kids. It was the kids who planned on heading out to the outskirts of town. At their head was Brock followed by Duke and Joey, who were only there for support.

"All right listen up." Brock spoke to get everyone's attention. "Me and these brave souls are heading out towards edge of town to go to the Winston's farms in hopes of maybe bringing some supplies back suck as food and other goods. If we're lucky, they'll even let us bring some animals back as a food source."

As Brock spoke Maggie realized that one of the kids heading out was Luan. Her heart skipped a beat. She saw that two of her sister were also going out. She was slightly relieved. But not relieved enough. She remembered how she had intervened a few times when Luan was about to be harmed by an adult. Maggie knew what she had to do.

"…so, if any of you want to join us, then this is your last chance," Brock finally finished.

Maggie sighed got up and walked towards the group ignoring whispers all around her.

Brock smiled. "You want to come with us?"

"That depends if _she's_ going." Maggie pointed at Luan, who looked just as confused as before.

"Yes," Brock said.

"Then there's your answer."

Maggie stepped up to stand next to Luan.

"She must be your number one fan," Luna whispered to Luan.

"You have no idea," Luan whispered back.

"Anyone else?" Brock asked.

"Things are getting interesting," Mary Jane said to Shade.

"Indeed, they are," Shade whispered. "I think I'll join them myself. Those Loud sisters are really entertaining characters. Plus, I'd love to see how this whole, _Luaggie_ thing plays out."

Shade got up and joined them as well.

"All right," Brock said, "everyone gather your things, say your goodbyes and meet me by the rear exit of the school in five."

The Loud siblings went up to Clyde who was cradling Lily in his arms while Charles rested next to him.

"Are you guys really going back out there?" He asked.

"Yep," Luna told him as he handed Lily to her and she and her sisters said their goodbyes to the baby Loud.

Clyde told them to be careful to which they all responded with a nod. Luna then asked him if he could take Lily over to the nurse's office to visit Lincoln.

Clyde nodded affirmatively.

"See ya later," They all said.

* * *

Luna took another look at the group. There were a few unfamiliar faces from the middle school, but she recognized three of the kids from the middle school: Jay, Eric and Franklin. They all nodded to her and her sisters. The only kids from the elementary school who were going was: Herself, Luan and Lynn, Maggie, Cooper, Tom, Ethan, Lexi, Shade, and a kid named Doyle who wore a straw hat and overalls. He was only going because Brock wanted to take the horses that Ethan and his group had brought with them from Indiana just in case they needed to carry a load of supplies if they got any. The horses were originally from his family's farm.

"All right, everyone ready?" Brock asked, as he appeared with Duke and Joey.

There were mumbles throughout the group and Shade jokingly said "No."

"Good, let's move out!"

"Don't worry, Brock. I'll stay here and keep an eye on things," Duke said with a smirk.

Brock rolled his eyes as one the kids unlocked the set of doors and they all went back out into the unknown.

 **3.**

Clyde knocked on the door to the nurse's office with one hand while he held Lily in his other arm. Next to him was Andy, Tucker and Chandler. Why Chandler wanted to see Lincoln was a mystery to him. He was probably going because Andy was going too. He was the only friend Chandler had left.

"Why are you knocking?" Chandler asked impatiently.

"It's the polite thing to do," Clyde told him.

"Oh right, silly me," he sarcastically said.

"It's open," They heard Sanjay say from inside.

They all walked in to the dimly lit room. It didn't take long for them to notice everything as there was little to take in. The room wasn't too big, but it was big enough to fit in a few recovery tables where injured and sick kids rested. Then they saw Lincoln surrounded by his younger sisters.

"Wincon," The youngest Loud babbled as soon as she saw her big brother.

The Loud family turned their heads and smiled.

"Lily!" Lola squealed, and she ran up to Clyde and he handed the baby to her as they made their way over to where Lincoln rested.

"How's it going, man?" Clyde asked Lincoln.

"So far, so good," Lincoln responded.

Clyde nodded. "Do you know when you'll be able to leave?"

"I don't know. Sanjay says I should be able to leave tomorrow."

Chandler scoffed. _What does Sanjay know? He's just a kid like everyone else._

"Well I'm glad to hear that, buddy," said Clyde.

Andy stepped up. He had a huge smile on his face. "I hear you guys fought off hundreds of greens. Is that true?"

Lincoln shrugged. "I don't think there were that many. And besides I didn't really fight any. It was mostly the older kids who did the hard work. I didn't do too much."

"What are you talking about?" Lola said, sounding shocked. "You came all the way there for us."

"You protected us," Lana chimed in.

"You were willing to die for us," Lucy added.

"Yeah well, I'm your older brother it's my job to protect you."

The younger Louds all hugged Lincoln again.

Tucker spoke up. "You're a good person Lincoln. Not many kids your age would be willing to go back out there.

"It's different when your family is in danger," Lincoln told him.

"Even so, you're still a hero Lincoln."

Lincoln wiped tears from his eyes. He cried because of how close he came to losing his younger sisters. He'd all ready lost one younger sister he wouldn't lose anymore. He'd die before that happened.

"I'm not a hero," Lincoln told him. "What kind of _hero_ can't even protect the one person who could've put a stop to this madness?"

All his younger sisters gripped him tighter.

"Don't say that Linky," Lola cried, "That wasn't your fault."

"Yeah," Lucy said. "The only person responsible is the person who…" Lucy couldn't finish that sentence. Instead she put her face back up against Lincoln's body.

"That's still pretty fucked up," Chandler said. "Kids killing kids. Hopefully we never see anymore psychos like them ever again."

After a brief, moment of silence. Lola spoke up

"Lincoln."

"Yeah?"

"I don't care if you don't see yourself as a hero, because you're still my hero."

His other sisters agreed as well, and Lincoln couldn't stop the tears from flowing now.

"And my heroes are my sisters." He said.

They all held each other. While the others looked on.

Chandler scoffed again. "Well I'm out of here." He made his way towards the door and Andy followed. Saying goodbye to everyone.

That just left Clyde and Tucker watching the family embrace. Clyde began to cry. He missed his family.

Lincoln noticed this and invited him to join them. "You're apart of this family too, Clyde."

Clyde happily joined them. Nothing was going to tear them apart.

Tucker smiled as he took it all in. As long as there was still love in the world, and people who looked out for each other. The evil that lurked outside would never win.

 **4\. Speck VII**

"Damn, dude. I'm really sorry about your sister," Speck said.

"And I'm sorry about your dad," Stan told him.

They both rested in a small house on the outskirts of Huntington Oaks. They'd both explained how the last few weeks had gone for them before running into each other.

"How were you able to get out of there anyway?" Speck asked him. Referring to the moment at the Royal Woods high school where Stan was surrounded by adults.

"I don't know, man? One moment I was fighting over my mace with an adult, and the next, I pulled it free. What happened next was a blur. I must've went into an even bigger killing frenzy. I was running on adrenaline and being fueled by my hatred for those things." Stan paused as if what he was going to say next pained him more than anything. "I had to leave her body behind, my sisters corpse. A lot of them saw her as an easy meal and were distracted. I knew she wouldn't want me to die over just her dead body, so I booked it. I ran. I just left her body and ran all the way back to my house. I just wanted to get away from there. From everything."

Stan was crying now. Speck didn't know what to do so he just let him cry. It was clear that Stan would never want to go back to Royal Woods ever again.

As soon as he was done Speck spoke up. He apologized again that he had to go through all that. Stan just nodded.

"I'm sure we've gotten away from The Tower and his group," Speck said, "but we should probably get a move on. We're close to Huntington Oaks. We can start a new life there. Hopefully meet another group of kids." Stan nodded, again. Then Speck continued. "But first let's look around this house. We should pack some food. Plus, I could use a blunt weapon, or something."

Speck went off to look for supplies while Stan just lied down on a couch. He didn't feel like looking around. He was too busy thinking about everything that had happened in the last few weeks. He suddenly remembered Mary and her brother Matt. He hoped they were all right. Surely no one would do anything to them now that they all probably thought Stan was dead. No. They couldn't be that cruel. A small part of him wanted to run back to the elementary school to go see if she was all right. But he couldn't bring himself to. He wanted to get away from there and forget about everything. Even Mary. And besides, what if any of the Loud siblings were still alive. He didn't know what he'd do if he ever saw them again. He pushed dark thoughts out of his mind and tried to focus on the future. No need to dwell on the past. The old Stan Parker was dead.

Speck came back wearing a light, brown hoodless jacket he'd found in the house and was carrying a hammer, and a backpack full of food and water. He was slightly annoyed that Stan didn't help him look, but he didn't say anything. He was good at keeping things to himself.

"Nice jacket," Stan remarked.

"I'm only wearing it because it has a pocket on the inside of it where I can hide my gun." Speck told him.

Stan nodded as he got to his feet. "Shall we get going then?"

Speck nodded. "The sooner the better."

 **5\. The Princess**

Her loyal subjects marched on. Two of which were carrying her on a litter that's appearance was similar to that of a stretcher. They didn't complain. They'd happily volunteered to be her personal porters. She had that affect on people before she was taken over. And even in this diseased state, no one was immune to her charm. Her subjects killed and died for her. A fact that was proven time and time again as they came across multiple groups of prey. It was a competition to see who could get the biggest, juiciest piece of meat to offer her. Even though she gave them nothing in return the fact that she'd acknowledge them just by accepting their offering was enough to fulfill them.

The sun was high in the sky. She bathed in it's warmth. The light triggered memories of her past life. She'd spent so much time soaking up the sun's rays. Turning her white skin tan. But it didn't matter anymore. Her skin was mossy green. She couldn't help but think that whoever she'd taken control of would hate this color. Seeing as though she was wearing bright pink. The color contrast was atrocious, but she didn't care. All she cared about was eating. She was still upset over the kids who'd gotten away from her several days ago. Who did those brats think they were? They shouldn't have been running away from her, they should've been running towards her. She was the most beautiful person in the world after all.

She was a princess.

* * *

 **THE ENEMY IS GETTING CLOSER**

* * *

 _I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I'm sorry it was so short. I just wanted to get it out of the way. The next chapter will be longer and more exciting than these last two chapters. I'll try my best to get it out as soon as possible.  
_


	11. Children of the Corn

**Thanks for the 6k views everyone!**

 **All right, I was sure to make this chapter longer than the last two. Perhaps a little two sure seeing as though this is the second longest chapter (so far).  
**

 **Also while I was writing this I found out that there's someone on YouTube who's reading this story. Go to YouTube and look up a channel by the name of _The Shadow Reader_. The name of the videos where he reads this story is called _The Loud House Creepypasta "The Virus"_ Although if you are reading this then that means you've probably already read the parts that he has posted so far. However, he does have other Loud House stories so you can go check those out too.  
Anyway, I can't tell you how excited I was to find out that someone was actually taking the time to read this story and post it on YouTube. And that his videos of this story have garnered over 30,000 views . Which I guess technically means that my story has way more than 6k views.  
Shadow Reader if you're reading this I just wanted to say thank you so much for spreading this story around. And I hope your YouTube channel continues to grow more popular.  
**

 **Also I guess I'll tell you that my YouTube username is _zonzink_ so check me out if you want. I don't post anything involving The Loud House or The Enemy though.**

* * *

 **The Terror**

 **Chapter 3: Children of the Corn**

 **1\. Speck VIII**

Stan and Speck were about to enter Huntington Oaks, eyes peeled in case there were any grown-ups nearby. The sun was still high in the sky. The two boys hadn't spoken much since moving on. Stan was looking forward to starting a new life. He hoped there would be more kids in Huntington Oaks. It would be awkward if it was just him and Speck. Stan could tell that Speck was probably a quiet kid before the apocalypse happened and didn't have many friends. Which is why Stan didn't recognize him when he walked on to his property.

They soon crossed the town border and saw a large sign that said: _Welcome to Huntington Oaks._

"We're here," Said Stan.

"Yes. we are," Speck responded.

The Silence was back after Stan pointed out the obvious. He really hoped they'd come across some more people soon.

"Where do you think would be a good place to stay?" Stan asked.

"Any of these houses would probably be a great place to live. But I'm gonna be selfish and say: let's go find the biggest one."

Stan nodded. "Hopefully no one else has had the same idea. Be it crazy kid, or adults."

They didn't need to look too hard to find the biggest mansion in the town. They both could see it from what had to be several hundred yards away. A ray of sunshine was shining on it as if the heavens were guiding them too it. All that was missing was a choir of angels. None of them said anything as they headed towards it. They both knew that that mansion would be the perfect place to live out, well, the rest of their lives for all they cared.

They stepped closer and closer. Not a single person in sight. Stan was smiling. Thinking of all the things he could do there: He could sleep all he wanted, eat whatever he wanted, yell all he wanted. He imagined himself doing all kinds of funny things by himself: Singing, dancing, breaking things. His eyes were closed as he thought of all this. The sounds were vivid. Almost too vivid.

He suddenly felt an arm that was stuck out in front of him to keep him from going any further.

"Looks like someone beat us to it," Speck said.

Stan looked ahead. All the sounds in his head suddenly made sense. From where they were standing they could see the back of the mansion. There were kids of all ages, shapes and sizes. Stan was a little disappointed at first. But then he remembered that he was hoping to find more kids.

"So? Let's just go over there and see if they'll let us join them."

"That's a negative," Speck told him. "Take a closer look at what they're wearing."

Stan squinted as he edged a little bit closer to the mansion. He could see that some kids were wearing jerseys and shirts with a logo on them. Stan swore once he recognized the logo. It was the logo that belonged to a sports team called _The Hazeltucky Hockers._ Which could only mean that these kids were from the town of Hazeltucky. A town that was way less affluent than Huntington Oaks and was notorious for having kids with behavioral problems.

"Now what?" Stan said, as he shrugged his shoulders.

"I say we get as far away from those kids as we can," Speck answered, "We'll look for another mansion. There's still plenty to choose from."

"I guess so," Stan said, with a nod. And he and Speck walked on deeper into the town. They thought they were walking away from a dangerous group, but unbeknownst to them a far more dangerous group was residing on the other side of town.

 **2.**

They walked further and further away from the elementary school. Their footsteps creating a rhythmic beat that was being drowned out by the steady clopping of the horse's footsteps. Doyle was constantly warning Brock that nothing bad better not happen to his horses, or else. Which everyone knew was an empty threat.

Near the end of the group was Shade Walker, still high as ever. He looked to his left and was delighted to see Mary Jane walking next to him. She looked at him and smiled which prompted Shade to smile back and grab her hand. She quickly pulled hers away.

"What the heck, man?" she said. Which snapped Shade out of his daydream and he saw that he had grabbed some random dudes hand.

"Sorry," he said, embarrassed.

The elementary school was out of sight now. So far there were no signs of adults. They were all glad that that was the case. Except for Lynn who really wanted to bash some faces in. She twirled her mace in her hand and nearly hit an older kid walking beside her.

"Watch it," he demanded.

Lynn glared back at him. "No, you watch it," she said, which prompted the kid to hurry away from her.

Luan was standing between her sisters. Her scimitar drooped by her side. She felt safe with them, but she was still uneasy. She kept telling herself to be brave. There was no turning back now. No one had forced her to go. She only went to prove to herself that she could be brave. Luna seemed to notice her nervousness and gently placed a hand on her shoulder and told her every little thing was going to be all right.

"Is it?" Luan asked.

"As long as we stick together, sis."

The words did little to calm her down, but she nodded anyway.

Luna slowly removed her hand and looked around. They were now surrounded by a few small buildings and shops. Most of which looked untouched. She could see shops that pertained to all her sibling's hobbies.

"Just think, someday all of this will be ours. We'll be free to do what we want. I can sing and jam as loud as I want, you can perform without any limits and Lynn can play ball in the house." Lynn heard Luna say that and turned to her and smiled.

"No adult has ever stopped me from playing ball inside of anywhere before." The three of them laughed and for a moment everything seemed all right.

"Up ahead," They heard someone say. It was Franklin, he'd spotted a small group of greens up the road, oblivious to the group of kids.

"What should we do?" Eric asked, looking at Brock.

"I think we should let them pass," Brock said.

"I think we should just take them down and be done with them, so we won't have to worry about them later," Lynn voiced her opinion.

"We don't know how many there are," Brock calmly spoke back.

"Then let's draw them to us."

"No, I don't want to fight unless we have- "

Suddenly one of the kids screamed. Everyone looked to see an adult male tugging on the arm of a kid near the back trying to take a bite out of him. The screaming caused the horses to panic and alerted the greens up ahead. A chorus of swears and raised voices filled the once quiet void of the streets. Ethan was the first to reach the kid and take the green out with a single swing of his club.

"Here they come!" Franklin said as he loaded his slingshot.

Everyone readied their weapons and Brock shouted orders.

Franklin let one steel ball fly and struck the leading adult square between the eyes.

"There's more!" Another kid shouted. And everyone looked to see greens emerging from the surrounding buildings. They were all skinny and looked like they hadn't eaten since the beginning of the apocalypse.

The yells of the kids became more panicked which caused the horses to buck. Doyle and another kid held on to the horse's leads for dear life.

"Hurry up and take them out!" He shouted.

"Don't falter!" Brock yelled, "We can take them, look how weak they are. I can see their bones through their skin."

In the few seconds since they'd spotted the other greens Franklin had loaded another steel ball onto his sling and taken out another adult.

Brock decided he'd have to lead by example and stepped up. Using his weapon of choice, a spiked club, he swung at the nearest green so hard that it took off the top half of its head.

"Fuck yeah!" Shade yelled, as he watched. He wasn't as scared as the other kids, he was too high to care.

"Let's do this!" Ethan shouted. And he and his friend Lexi began to go to work on the feeble greens.

The greens they'd spotted first were now on top of them. There was no time for Franklin to take another shot. He stepped aside and watched as Lynn zoomed past him in a red and white blur.

"Batter up!" She said as she took a balanced stance that was like a person who was up to bat in baseball. She swung as hard as she could and sent the green spiraling away. She gripped her mace tighter and got ready to do the same to the other greens.

Luan was standing in the middle of the group feeling useless. To her left was Luna, holding an axe. Getting ready for the adults who were approaching from that direction. Luan closed her eyes tight and gripped her scimitar.

Behind her was Maggie, who felt bad for Luan which was rare because she hardly felt empathetic for anyone. She was wondering what she should do. But before she could do anything the greens finally reached Luna.

Luna swung her axe at the first green who reached for her. Sending it to her side. She hardly got a chance to ready the axe for another swing as another, bigger, male grabbed onto her. And shoved her down. She screamed which caused Luan's eyes to snap open. She saw Luna pinned to the ground and was instantly struck with a jolt of courage. The need to protect her sister outweighed her fear. She sprang up to the green that was on top of Luna and brought her curved sword down on the man, killing him. She then realized that she brought it down too hard as it was now lodged firmly in the grown-up's head. She pulled as hard as she could while Luna tried to shift away from under the adult.

"Look out, Luan!" Luna shouted, and she looked to see another adult reaching for her. It was a tall, skinny female whose lips were peeled back as if she were grinning.

Luan screamed and before she knew it a knife was poked firmly into the woman's eye socket. Luan looked to see Maggie who was now shoving the dead woman away. The other greens stumbled over the body.

She quickly helped Luan remove the adult male from on top of Luna and now they all stood side by side. As the adults were back to advancing on them.

"Let's take it to 'em, sis," Luna said.

Luan was now aware of everything that was going on: Luna and Maggie standing next to her, Lynn constantly swatting at greens, Doyle trying to control the horses, behind her Ethan and his friend Lexi were taking it to the greens as well, A few kids were standing back watching the other kids go to work. Meanwhile, her hands were moving. She was taking greens down with swings of her sword and then she was done. The group of greens were defeated. And as she looked around at the mess of dead grown-ups she resorted back to her scared, reserved self.

It was quiet again. Everyone was breathing heavily. Doyle had managed to calm the horses down. The dust had settled.

Lynn walked over to her siblings and they all hugged each other.

"You did good, sis," Luna told Luan, who looked down timidly at the ground.

"Is everyone all right?" Brock asked.

Everyone looked around. No one was injured. Brock smiled.

"Excellent job everyone. Like I said, there's nothing we can't accomplish if we work together. Now, let's keep going."

And with that, they all continued with their mission. Leaving the dead bodies where they had fallen. Hoping that that was as bad as it was going to get.

 **3.**

Meanwhile…

Duke and Joey were back to sitting on the stage in the auditorium. Duke was busy thinking about Brock. How he'd practically barged into the school and managed to make Duke break down like a kid- or a little kid- over his parents. And now he was leading an expedition with kids from _his_ group. Duke was annoyed. He hoped that Brock didn't plan on taking over this school. There was no way he'd let that happen.

Brian Allen sat at his desk in the science lab. The green they'd been studying was still restrained on a table. Brain read Lisa's notes. There was so much to read. He was smart, sure, but he wasn't on Lisa's level. He wondered why he even bothered continuing trying to find a cure. It was hopeless. He shouldn't be in here. He should be out there living life to the fullest. Not trying to save it. But unfortunately, this was the world he lived in.

Mary continued to sit by herself in a corner of the home economics room. Watching as her brother was sewing with a few other kids. She'd cried after someone had told her that Stan was dead. It was just her and her brother against the world now.

Lincoln still lied on the recovery couch with his sisters, and Clyde by his side. They'd all dozed off and were sleeping peacefully. Looking as serene as ever. Given the circumstances.

Sanjay was working quietly a few feet away trying not to wake the Loud family. There were kids who were still injured from when Zeke and his group attacked. He hoped they'd never meet a group that crazy ever again.

Tucker had left the nurses office and was now on the roof like he always was looking off into the distance. Waiting for the others to return eventually. Or for something interesting to happen.

 **4.**

They weren't sure how long they'd been walking as they were now near the outskirts of Royal Woods. They were now walking on a dirt road surrounded by corn.

"This is getting creepy," Luan said.

"What, the corn?" Shade, who was walking right behind her, said.

"No, the silence. It's _dead_ quiet."

"Is that a pun?" Shade asked.

"Yeah, I'm glad you had your _ears_ ready for that one," Luan giggled.

Luan's sisters were glad that she was trying to keep a pleasant attitude, but she was right. The silence was creepy. It was just like how it was before they were attacked earlier.

Brock then held up a hand which stopped everyone.

"What is it?" Doyle asked, clinging to the lead of his horses.

"I swear I saw movement in the corn," he said.

"It's the Children of the Corn," Shade said, and everyone began to whisper rapidly and fearfully.

Brock shushed them.

"No matter what happens we need to stick together."

They then heard the sound of cornstalks rustling. Everyone tensed up. They could see a black mass moving towards them from inside the cornfield.

The horses became uneasy and everyone readied their weapons. The shape got closer and closer and then it showed itself. It was just small female deer. A doe.

Everyone eased up

"Oh _deer_ ," said Luan. And everyone began to laugh.

The doe stared at them for a few seconds and then began to walk away when suddenly, a tall, slender naked adult male leapt from the shadows of the cornfield and pounced on the defenseless animal.

Everyone jumped at once. It sounded as if the doe was screaming as the grown-up chomped down on it and tore a huge chunk off it.

Brock quickly advanced on the green and was about to take a swipe at it when another adult bounded out of the cornfield.

"Look out!" someone shouted.

Brock snapped his head towards the new arrival and took it out with a hit to the head

The first adult had now killed the doe and was tearing it apart. Brock knew there was nothing he could do for the poor animal now.

"Oh shit!" Ethan yelled. And everyone could see several shapes making their way towards them.

Greens.

Brock held his weapon at the ready and everyone did the same. He tried his best to take out as many adults as he could as they emerged from the cornfield. So did everyone else. This time, however, they weren't good enough to fight so many grown-ups in such a small space. Things had changed so fast. At first it was just one adult then another, then five, then ten, then twenty, and still, more continued to appear.

"Run!" Shade cried. Everyone took his advice and ran into the cornfield at the other side of the dirt road.

"Wait! I said we need to stick together!" Brock cried, but no one listened.

Lynn was still trying to take it to the adults, but she was quickly overwhelmed. Her sisters called out to her and she abandoned the fight and followed them into the cornfield.

The horses were back to bucking, Doyle was by himself as the other kids abandoned him. He was swearing and begging someone to help him. Luna took one last look at the horses and saw Doyle trying his best to fight off the grown-ups, but he too, was overwhelmed only he couldn't get away in time. He was dragged to the ground and soon, so were the horses.

"Goodbye horses," Luna said to herself and continued into the cornfield.

Luna was aware of her sisters running in front of her. Lynn could've easily run far ahead of them, but she ran slowly so her sisters could keep up with her. Luan was back to being helplessly scared. She'd dropped her sword and was now completely defenseless. Every corn leaf that brushed against her arms and legs made her spine tingle, she was afraid the next thing to touch her wouldn't be a crop, but the hand of an adult that would drag her down and devour her. The screams of other kids all around her made her pick up the pace. She was too focused on what was ahead of her that she lost track of her sisters.

"Luna, Lynn?" She cried pathetically, looking around. Just then she ran into something that knocked her flat on her back. She saw stars momentarily and soon came back to her senses enough to see a large adult male standing over her. Luan screamed as the adult reached towards her. Just then someone took down the adult with a vicious swing of a club. Luan looked to see Eric standing over her. He smiled, showing his rotting yellow teeth.

"Hello again," he said as he reached a hand towards her.

Luan was relieved to see his ugly mug. She reached up to him and then there was a sudden flash of something shiny and metal and the cornstalks besides Eric fell and the smile on his face slowly disappeared and then his head fell right onto Luan's lap.

She screamed, threw the head off her and looked up to see someone shove his body out of the way. An old adult male now loomed over her wielding a scythe. His skin was rotten green like the rest of the grown-ups, and his eyes were blood red. He was wearing a yellow plaid shirt and jeans with suspenders, as well as a straw hat. He reminded her so much of the killer from this one movie called _The Harvester._ He looked down at her with an emotionless face. He then raised his scythe, ready to cut her to pieces. Luan screamed and closed her eyes bracing for the unbearable pain of getting her skin slashed open.

She then heard a brief scuffle and felt herself being pulled to her feet. Luan slowly opened her eyes and saw Maggie standing in front of her with a terrified but determined look on her face.

"Come on," She urged. But Luan's shoes felt like they were filled with cement.

Maggie continued to try and move her along, when suddenly the farmer reemerged and was about to take another swing.

"Look out!" she cried. Maggie turned and saw the scythe swinging towards her. Luan pulled Maggie away just in time. As the blade took off a few strands of the girl's dark hair. Luan cursed herself for letting her fear almost getting Maggie killed. The two girls then continued to run as fast as they could.

It had felt like an eternity, but Lynn had finally made it out of the cornfield. She looked around and realized that she was the first one out. She waited a few seconds for her sisters to appear. Screams were filling the air. Lynn was wondering if she should risk going back into the field to look for her sisters. She was suddenly back to day one. She felt just as frightened as she was when she was standing in front of her younger sibling's elementary school. Unsure if any of the screams belonged to her siblings. She wanted to punch herself. What was she thinking? Of course she was going to go back for her sisters. She gripped her mace tightly and charged back into the maze of corn.

Luna's eyes were darting left and right. She was hyperaware of every touch, sound, smell, and sensation that filled her body. Several shapes were rushing around her, she wasn't sure if they were kids or adults. She wanted to yell out her sister's names but was unsure if she should risk giving away her position. She then heard Luan screaming as well as Lynn shouting. She wasted no time making her way towards the sounds. The closer she got the more she could make out the shape of them. Luan was with Maggie, but still no Lynn. Luna then saw and adult taking constant swings at Luan and Maggie.

"No!" Luna shouted as she gripped her axe and rushed to the adult.

The adult shifted his gaze from the two girls to Luna. He swung his scythe at Luna and she held out her axe to block it, the force of the scythe hitting the axe made Luna stumble backwards. This adult was stronger than he looked.

"Luna!" Luan shouted.

"Keep running!" Luna shouted back.

Luan was hesitant, but Maggie managed to drag her away.

Luna bobbed and weaved as the farmer slashed and slashed, causing several corn stalks to around him to fall. As soon as Luna was sure that Luan was safe she continued her way towards the other end of the field.

Lynn finally saw Luan, but no Luna.

"Where's Luna?" She asked as Luan and Maggie reached her. Luan turned and stuck a trembling finger towards the way they'd come.

Lynn hurried in that direction.

"Wait!" Luan cried.

"Don't worry about me," Lynn yelled back, "I can look after my- " she then collided with Luna, knocking them both on their butts.

"Luna…" Lynn began. But Luna quickly got up and lifted Lynn to her feet.

"Run!" She yelled.

Lynn was about to ask why but quickly realized that that would be a stupid question. Then she saw what Luna was running from. A farmer swinging a scythe like a maniac.

Lynn decided that it would be too risky to try and fight him, so she just ran with Luna. They were almost to the end of the field when Luna felt something tug at her shoe. She screamed which caused Lynn to step up and take a swing at what was grabbing onto her. She brought her mace down on whatever it was and when she lifted it she realized that it was another kid.

"Oh shit!" Lynn gasped. She tried her best to make out who it was when she realized that it was one of the kids from the middle school. Jay was his name. She hardly knew the kid, but she felt terrible for killing him. That's when she noticed that his guts were hanging out from an open wound around his stomach. He was as good as dead anyway. But Lynn was still shocked at what she had done.

There was no time to fret over it too much, because the farmer was still hot on their trail.

Luna tugged on Lynn's arm and they continued to run as fast as they could.

The end of the cornfield was in sight. Their lungs were screaming. They were hoping there'd be other kids on the other side of the last row of corn. They weren't sure if they'd have the energy to try and fight after they escaped this maze. They could feel the scythe only inches away from their backs as there were now only a few yards to go. They were so close. And then… they were greeted by the barrel of a shotgun.

"What the…?" They both said.

"Get down!" A voice yelled.

The sisters did as they were told, and a loud bang filled the air which caused both their ears to ring. They both closed their eyes and brought their hands up to cover their ears. Then they felt themselves being dragged away from the cornfield as more shots rang out.

"Luna, Lynn," the sister barely heard their names being called over the sounds of the gun going off. They both slowly opened their eyes to see Luan standing over them with a relieved, yet still terrified expression.

The two sisters stood up and the three siblings hugged each other. That's when Luna suddenly remembered the old man with the scythe chasing them. She quickly twirled to look back at the cornfield to see other kids from her group taking down any adult who exited the field. There was way more room to fight now. There were also kids with guns taking out adults. There was a kid about her age holding a pump-action shotgun, the same shotgun her and Lynn were starring down the barrel of a few seconds ago. None of the adults stood a chance as they were blasted with it. She watched as some of the greens' heads exploded as they were pelted with buckshot, while others were knocked off their feet as they were hit in the chest. Even the adult with the scythe was dead. His head had been blasted off by the shotgun.

Soon, the kid had to reload. He shouted and then another kid, a girl who looked a tad bit younger stepped up with a gun of her own. It was an old looking wooden rifle with a fixed bayonet. The kind you'd see in a World War 2 film. She was devastatingly accurate as one after another, a grown-up exited the cornfield. Soon, after the last adult was put down. The silence was back.

"And I though Lucy's corn mazes were scary," Luan quipped. And she and her siblings all laughed and hugged each other again. Maggie, who was standing a few feet away, wished she could be apart of the embrace. As soon as the Loud siblings were done hugging Luan turned to her and thanked her for saving her again.

Maggie just nodded. Playing it cool. But on the inside she was euphoric.

The Loud siblings then looked around taking in everyone and everything. They saw some of the kids from their party: Brock, Cooper, Tom, Franklin, Ethan, Lexi, Shade and a few other kids from the middle school whose names they hadn't bothered to learn.

All around the was the stereotypical farm. A house, a barn, some concrete silos and sheds.

Brock was approaching the boy with the shotgun

"Thanks for the help," he said extending a hand out to shake.

"What're you all doing here?" the kid with the shotgun asked as they shook hands.

Brock apologized for bothering them and then he introduced himself and the others and explained why they were there. And after a brief conversation the boy introduced himself.

"My name is Grant Winston. That girl with the carbine is my sister Abby and that boy over there is my younger brother Travis." Grant said acknowledging a boy who had brown hair just like Grant and Abby did.

"Is it okay if we continue this conversation somewhere safe?" Brock asked, "I need to get a head count of how many members of my group we lost. Plus, there's no telling how far those gunshots rang out. For all we know any grown-up within a five radius could be on their way here, now."

Grant smiled. "Let them come," he said as he pumped his shotgun.

 **5\. The Princess II**

The Princess and her loyal subjects were marching along the countryside of Michigan. She was annoyed because it had been several hours since they'd even seen a kid.

Just then. The faintest hint of activity. Not too close. Not too far. They heard some booming sounds. The sounds could only mean one thing: people. And where there were people, there was prey.

She sent the order out. _Follow that sound_. And with that, all her subjects switched direction and headed towards the sounds of action. Ready to consume anything and everything.

 **6.**

Brock and Grant sat at a table in the middle of the kitchen of the lone farmhouse. It was tidy but cramped. Several kids stood around them while some stood watch outside, some however were too upset over the close call to focus on anything. Shade was already lighting another joint and lied when another kid asked him for a hit by saying this was his last one. He hated to lie, but he hated to share even more. Meanwhile, Franklin had climbed up one of the silos and was standing watch, admiring, but keeping a vigil eye on the country side of Royal Woods, Michigan.

"So, what can I do you for?" Grant asked Brock. "There has to be a reason you all braved the elements to come here."

Brock told him about how they had two groups. The elementary and middle school in Royal Woods. How they'd joined forces and were hoping to acquire some of the animals and stuff from the farm to help start a new life.

"Interesting," Grant said, with a nod. "I'd love to help, but how will I know my animals will be safe in town. For all I know it could still be crawling with adults and such."

"We took care of a lot of grown-ups already. There aren't much left last we saw. And the ones we did see on our way here were no trouble at all. However, out here was different. The adults here were still strong and dangerous. Like the one with the scythe."

"That one was my grandpa," Grant said, "I've been trying to get him for weeks. Put him out of his misery just like I did to my own father. Thanks to you I was able to accomplish that," he stopped and pondered something before speaking again, "well, you all seem like nice people, so I guess I can spare a few things, depending on what they are."

Brock smiled. "We'd really appreciate it."

"So watcha need?"

Brock told him. "Some chickens, maybe some pigs, and I cow would be nice too."

"A cow?" Grant raised an eyebrow, "chickens and pigs are one thing, but a cow is too big an order."

Before Brock could say anything. Luna stepped up with Luan and Lynn by her side and spoke.

"Please," she said, "we have a younger sister who's only a year old and she needs milk and we don't have any other way to get it."

Grant looked at her as she said this and still had his eyebrow raised.

"A baby, huh?"

"Yes, a baby," Lynn spoke now, "If we don't get her milk she could die," she said, bluntly, "you wouldn't want to be responsible for a baby's death, would you?"

Brock looked slightly annoyed that the Loud sisters had cut in, but it was too late to say anything as Grant retorted to their remarks.

"Not exactly. But it's not _my_ responsibility to help everyone who just shows up here. I have my own siblings to look after."

Lynn took a step closer and glared at Grant. "And I'm sure you'd do anything to protect them just like me and my sisters would do anything to protect our siblings."

Grant held her gaze, not liking what Lynn was implying.

"Yeah I would. So, don't try anything."

Luna and Luan eased Lynn back and Brock spoke again.

"I'm sorry about that. I know you have your own people to look after but are you sure you can't spare us a cow, surely you must have more than one, right? It would be too dangerous for us to keep coming back here just for some milk."

Grant thought for a few seconds. "How would you even get these animals back to town, anyway? Do you plan on carrying them yourselves?"

Brock awkwardly told Grant about how they brought a horse-drawn wagon with them to help carry supplies, but the horses were killed when the adults attacked them.

"You're really making a good case for yourselves," Grant sarcastically remarked.

Brock exhaled, looked down at the table they were sitting at, and tapped his fingers while trying his best to think of any kind of reason why Grant should just give them his precious livestock.

"Come on, please," Luna spoke up again. "We'd help you if you showed up at our doorstep asking for help, right Brock?" she turned to the pensive kid.

"Huh? oh yeah. Yeah, we would," Brock answered. "We have to work together after all.

"How kind of you to say that," Grant said. "But that doesn't really mean anything right now, does it?"

Everyone groaned. This kid was being difficult. If only there were a way to convince him that his animals would be in good hands if he gave them to them.

* * *

Franklin continued to scan the fields that spread out like an ocean of green. The sun was heading towards the west like it always did. Something these rolling fields had seen every day since the earth had formed. He'd been up there for only a few minutes, but he was already getting bored. But he had to remain focused even the slightest lack of concentration could cause him to miss something. Except what he saw coming towards the farm a few seconds later wasn't hard to miss at all. A large black mass. At first Franklin thought it was just the shadow of a big cloud. But it wasn't. Franklin blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't imagining things. And when he still saw the approaching mass he removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. Still it was approaching. It reminded Franklin of how weather reports would show a map of his state on a radar whenever a severe thunderstorm was approaching. How the variety of colors would move and spread across the screen, going over anything and everything without a care in the world.

Franklin swallowed the lump of fear that formed in this throat and clutched a whistle that Brock had given him for this exact situation. He scurried over to the edge of the silo and blew into it. Alerting the kids down below.

As soon as he got their attention he waved his arms towards the direction of the mass and hollered like a madman. Eventually one of the kids ran into the farmhouse.

* * *

The sound of the door swinging open startled everyone who was sitting in the kitchen.

"What's up?" Brock asked the kid.

"It's Franklin, I think he sees something coming."

Brock was on his feet in a blink and gripped his mace. Everyone else picked up their weapons and hurried outside to see Franklin still yelling and waving his arms like those air dancers you'd see at a used car dealership.

"What's wrong?" Brock yelled up but soon realized that he couldn't hear Franklin clearly.

"Either he's having a seizure, or he sees something coming," Grant said, as he handed his shotgun to his sister, Abby. "I'm gonna go have a look."

"I'll join you," Brock said. He wanted to see what was causing someone as quiet and reserved as Franklin to become animated.

They reached the top of the silo in no time.

"Look! Look! Do you see it?" Franklin was still pointing and shouting.

Brock brought a pair of binoculars he'd brought up with him up to his face and peered through them.

He finally got a good look at what Franklin had been spazzing out over.

A large group of grown-ups. Way bigger than the group he'd seen at the high school. All clumped together in a large huddle of bodies. The only one that stood out was one that appeared to be female and wearing all pink being carried on some kind of litter.

"What the…?" was all he could think to say before Grant pried the binoculars away from him.

"Let me see," Grant put the goggles to his face and Brock watched as his shoulders drooped. "No…"

"We have to get the hell out of here," Brock said.

"Agreed," Franklin said, his voice hoarse form all the shouting he'd been doing in the last few minutes.

The two began to make their way back to the ladder when Grant spoke.

"You and your group can leave, but I'm not going anywhere."

"What?" Brock said.

Grant removed the binoculars from his face and turned to Brock. "This is my farm. My home. It's all me and my family have left to remind us of the world before it went to hell. So, I'm not leaving."

"Did you not get a good look at those things?" Brock wanted to shout but spoke calmly. "They'll tear you and this place to pieces."

Grant nodded. "Maybe, but not after I take a few of them with me."

Brock swore and headed down towards the ground.

"What's going on?" Luna asked him as soon he was back on everyone's level. "What did you see?"

"Greens," Brock said. "More than I've ever seen. There has to be at over a thousand of them."

Luna felt her heart drop as everyone around her gasped.

"We need to get out of here!" Luan cried.

Luna looked back at her sister and saw the same terrified expression on her face she'd seen several times by now. All of her confidence from earlier in the morning was gone. Next to her stood Lynn, angrily clutching her mace. Unsure of what to make of this news.

"I know," Brock said, "and we'll do just that."

"Then what are we waiting for?" She asked.

Brock turned back to Grant who was now done climbing down as well.

"Grant, are you sure you don't want to come with us?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said, calmly, like they were discussing him staying home instead of going to a party, "I have to defend this place."

"And just how in the heck do you plan on doing that?" Brock asked.

Grant smiled as his sister handed him back his shotgun. "Follow me and you'll see."

* * *

"What are we doing?" Luan continued to ask. "Why are we still hanging around here instead of making like hockey sticks and getting the _puck_ out of here?"

Brock didn't have an answer. He just wanted to see what Grant had to show them. Whatever it was must've been good if it gave Grant the incentive to want to stay and defend this place. He led them all to a locked concrete cellar, took out a bundle of keys and unlocked it. Abby then handed him a lantern and he nodded for everyone to follow him.

As soon as they were inside everyone's faces turned from looks of fear and hopelessness to looks of pure amazement. They quickly realized that this wasn't any ordinary cellar, it was a gun cellar.

All around them were rows of rifles and boxes of ammunition.

Brock's heart began to beat faster. He turned to Grant who was looking back at him, still smiling.

"Pretty cool, huh?" he said.

"W-why are you showing us this?" Brock stammered, trying to contain his excitement.

"Because I'd hate to see these things go to waste," he said. "If you help me defend the farm you can have as many of these guns as you want."

Brock nodded, there was no way he was going to stay at this farm any longer than he had to, but he wanted- no- he needed these guns. He knew what he had to do.

"Or we can just shoot you and take the guns ourselves," Lynn coldly said. Her sisters looked at her and gasped. Lynn had a hard look on her face. But deep down, she knew she wouldn't carry that out.

Brock looked at her and gave her a harsh look. He didn't want her to ruin this.

Grant shrugged his shoulders, unfazed by Lynn's words. "I guess you could do that. But come on, have we really reached the point where kids kill other kids?"

The Loud sisters and a few others winced at those words.

"You have no idea," Luna said.

"Sure, we'll help you," Brock finally said.

There were several shouts from kids who objected to what Brock said. Shade, however, was thrilled to get his hands on a gun. He walked over to the row of guns and picked up an M14 rifle. He then held the rifle by the stock in a familiar military pose so that the gun rested against his shoulder. He grabbed his crotch and began to chant.

"This is my rifle, this is my gun, this is for fighting, this is for fun."

Grant was the only one who laughed. "Love the enthusiasm, buddy."

"I'm sorry Brock," Luna said, "but there's no way me and my sisters are staying here. We only came here to hopefully get some animals to use as livestock back at the school, not fight a freaking horde."

"Don't worry," was all Brock said before turning away to pick up a gun. He decided on an AR-15.

"Good choice," Grant told him.

"Was there any other option?" Brock quipped. And then he asked Grant why his family had all these guns.

"My dad was a person who was always a little paranoid," Grant began. "He was always worried that the government wasn't to be trusted- or something like that, I wasn't listening. Anyway, he was afraid that the government would try to take our guns someday, so he stocked up as much as he could."

"Well, thank goodness for that." Brock said. And then he went over to Ethan and Lexi and whispered something to them. They both nodded.

"All right," Grant began holding his shotgun closer, "I know a lot of you don't want to do this, but if you want me to give you any of my livestock you'll have to earn it, and what better way to earn it than to risk your-" Grant didn't get to finish as Brock bonked him in the back of his head with the stock of the AR-15, knocking him out cold. His siblings hardly had a chance to react as Ethan knocked out Grant's younger brother, Travis, and Lexi knocked out his younger sister, Abby.

Everyone gasped.

"Yo, what did ya do that for?" Shade said.

"This dude was out of his mind if he actually thought any of us were going to stay behind and fight over a piece of land," Brock said, "Instead, let's just take these guns, as well as all the animals and get the heck out of here."

Everyone spoke words of agreement.

"I saw some horses and wagons near the barn," Tom spoke up, "we can use them to carry the guns and some chickens and pigs, but the cows might be too big, we'll have to lead them away with a harness, or something."

"Good idea," Brock said and then spoke to everyone else. "All right everyone, you heard the plan, let's get to work."

"What about them?" Cooper said, pointing at the unconscious farmers.

"I guess we can't just leave them here," Brock said, and turned back to Ethan and Lexi "Help me tie them up, they're going to be pissed when they wake up, but hopefully, in time, they'll understand."

Brock ordered Franklin to climb back up and keep an eye on the approaching grown-ups while he and everyone else went to work loading up the wagons to their limits.

Brock smiled as soon as they were finished. All these guns would give them a huge advantage over the greens. And if they played their cards right, the livestock could last them for years. But now wasn't the time to get giddy. The large group was still approaching. He ordered everyone who knew how to use a gun to pick one up while he and a few others hooked the horses up to the wagons and began to steer clear of the farm.

Things were looking up for the most part. However, with the direction the grown-ups were heading in, they'd most likely end up in Royal Woods. Meaning sooner or later they'd have to go to battle with the group. Hopefully it would be later as the large mass was only moving as fast as the slowest one. Brock would have time to gather up everyone in the schools and prepare them for war. They were going to have to fight like hell.

 **7\. Speck IX**

Stan was in a deep sleep. Dreaming of what his life was like before everything went to shit. He and his family were all in his dining room sitting around the table about to eat dinner. His Mom and sister were alive, even his dad and younger brother were back. Nothing bad had ever happened to them. Everything was back to normal. He was back to being happy. His mom came over and set a set a plate on the table that was covered by a metal dome. He couldn't wait to see what she'd made. Her meals were the best.

Just then Stan caught a whiff of something putrid. It smelled like rotting garbage mixed with dead, rotten meat. Stan's face crinkled as the smell got worse. He looked up to his family who were all glaring at him, smiling. Their skin had turned green, their eyes were yellow, and their teeth were stained with blood.

Then Stan's mom lifted the dome to reveal the severed head of a kid around his age. Stan wanted to scream but the sound was trapped in his throat. He began to breathe heavily and then he felt a hand be placed on his mouth. Suddenly Stan was surrounded by darkness and he began to kick and squirm.

He saw a face in the darkness. It was wide-eyed and had a finger to its mouth as if to shush him. Stan instantly recognized the face, and everything came flooding back to him.

The face belonged to Speck. The two of them had taken shelter in a mansion several blocks away from the one that was occupied by the kids from Hazeltucky. As soon as they'd gotten comfortable, Stan had laid down on a couch and was out like a light bulb in less than a minute.

He quickly stopped squirming and as soon as Speck was sure he wouldn't make a sound he removed his hand away from Stan's mouth.

"What is it?" Stan whispered quietly. But apparently not quietly enough as Speck brought his finger back to his lips more urgently. Stan then shrugged his shoulders in a gesture that said, "Well?"

Speck leaned in closely. Closer than Stan was comfortable with.

"They're outside," he said in the quietest whisper Stan had ever heard.

"Who? The other kids?"

Speck shook his head, "No, adults."

Stan's spine tingled slightly. That would explain the smell then.

"How many?" he asked.

"Too many," Speck replied.

"Can you be more specific?"

"No, I can't."

"What do you mean?" Stan was confused now.

"Go see for yourself." Speck stepped aside and acknowledged a window with which the curtains were drawn "But be very, very quiet and careful."

Stan nodded and tiptoed over to the curtains and parted them ever so slightly. Expecting to see only a few dozen grown-ups at the most. But he wasn't prepared for what he actually saw. His soul almost left his body, and Stan wouldn't blame it if it did. Because what he saw made him want to leave this physical plane of existence as well.

As far as Stan could see surrounding the mansions that spread out throughout the neighborhood were more greens than he'd ever seen. Well over a thousand of them. All standing around, bunched together. Motionless like statues. As if they were waiting for something. Stan slowly closed the curtains and crept back backwards from the window. The only sound he could hear was his own heart beating a mile a minute.

As soon as he was right next to Speck he spoke quieter than he ever had before.

"How is this possible? Where did they come from? How did we not see, hear, or smell them until now?"

"I don't know?" Speck told him, "They've probably been gathering since before we got here and while we were asleep. More and more of them. Last I checked more of them began to appear as if something was drawing them together."

"But what?" Stan said.

"Like I said before, I don't know. But what I do know is that we have to get away from here. Far, far away from here. Maybe back to Royal Woods."

The name Royal Woods sent a hint of rage to Stan's mind. That was the last place he wanted to be- besides here. He never wanted to see Duke, or Joey, or any of those bastards at the elementary school ever again. And what about the Loud siblings? He hoped they were dead. If he ever saw them again, he couldn't be held responsible for what he'd do. He looked over to his mace that was resting against the couch he was sleeping on and imagined using it on the Loud siblings. He blamed them for everything that had happened to him in the last few weeks. He wished they never showed up at the school. He wished they were dead.

Then another though. Mary. He'd tried his best to put her out of his mind over the last few days, but he couldn't stop thinking about her. She was the only reason he'd ever go back to Royal Woods.

"Why should we go back there?" Stan then asked Speck.

"They'd want to know about this horde, wouldn't they?" Speck said, and Stan shrugged.

"I guess so."

The two boys packed what they could and quietly crept away from the mansion.

"Wait." Speck said, which caused Stan to look at him with irritation.

"What?"

"What about those other kids we saw?"

Stan shook his head.

"No way, dude. I'm not going anywhere near those hooligans."

"But what if they have younger kids with them? And other kids who aren't bad, but are only apart of that group because they have no one else to look after them?"

Stan sighed. "Fine, but let's make it quick."

Speck nodded, and they hurried over to where the Hazeltucky hooligans were still residing.

* * *

Stan and Speck slowed down the closer they got to the sounds of shouts, mischief, and debauchery. They could even hear music.

Stan gripped his mace tightly. While Speck patted his jacket with one hand to feel his gun hidden in his pocket, while his hammer was hidden up the right sleeve of his jacket.

They were walking steadily now as they were now walking on the yard of the mansion. None of the kids had noticed them yet. Except for one strange looking kid who was tall, slender, and wore what looked like a lab coat, with pale skin and a shaved head. He looked like someone the little goth Loud sister would hang out with. Stan and Speck both pondered walking over to him and saying something but decided against it. The kid just watched as they crept by, turning his head like a swivel. It made Stan shudder. Speck, however, had a determined look on his face.

The two boys got closer and closer, taking everything in. There were kids who were passed out, kids who were making out, and kids who were chugging what had to be alcohol.

Stan could now see where the music was coming from. There was music blasting a heavy metal song from a battery powered boombox and kids were head banging and doing some of the worst dancing Stan had ever seen.

"Ahem!" Speck loudly and authoritatively cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

Everyone stopped what they were doing immediately and turned to the new arrivals. One kid even turned off the music.

Stan was trying his best not to look nervous, but he knew he was failing at it.

"Who the hell are you?" A big kid asked.

"My names not important, just call me Speck. Now, I'd like to know who's in charge."

"What's it to ya?" Another kid said.

"I need to talk with whoever's in charge here. It's urgent."

"Yeah and so is getting this bulge in my pants taken care of," said one of the kids who was making out with a girl.

"I'm serious," Speck demanded.

"So am I," The kid retorted.

Stan and Speck looked at each other. Speck could tell by the look on Stan's face that he wanted to get the heck out of here. But Speck wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Surely, there must be someone in charge?" Speck went on.

"That would be me," A voice said.

Stan and Speck looked to see a kid who was slightly shorter than the kids around him making his way through the group of kids. He had a shaved head, like the kid they'd seen earlier and wore a dirty gray t-shirt with the word _Army_ printed on it and long gray pants with too many pockets on them. This kid reminded Stan of a shorter version of _Brock Howard_. The kid who was in charge of the middle school group in Royal Woods.

"Now what do you guys have to say that's so damn important that we had to stop partying?" There was a chorus of _"Yeah's?"_ that followed his question.

Stan and Speck were wondering how a kid this small ended up being in charge of a group this hard and tough looking. They also wondered how old he was. He could pass as a fifteen-year-old, but you'd have to get a good look at him.

"Well," Speck began, "we just came to warn you…"

"Warn us of what?" the kid interrupted, "the adults? Don't worry fellas we can look after ourselves thank you very much."

"No, you don't understand," Speck continued. "We just saw…so many of them."

"How many?" the kid asked.

"I don't know?" Speck said, "Too many to count.

The kid made a dismissive grunt. "Whatever. Do you think we can't handle ourselves? Is that it?"

"No that's not it at all…uh…"

"Gage," the kid said, "Gage Howard,"

 _Howard?_ Thought Stan, _this kid has to be related to Brock._

"Your last names Howard?" Stan asked.

"That's what I just said, isn't it?"

"You wouldn't happen to be related to anyone named _Brock,_ would you?"

Gage glared at Stan suspiciously. "Yeah, I have a cousin named Brock. He lives in Royal Woods. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm from Royal Woods, and Brock is in charge of a group of kids there and- "

"Oh, I see how it is," Gage said."

"Huh?"

"Brock sent you, didn't he? He thinks I can't look after myself. Thinks I can't lead a group myself."

Stan and Speck looked at each other confused and then back at Gage who continued to ramble.

"He thinks I'm not strong enough, that's it. That's how it's always been. My whole life I've just been known as _Brock's cousin,_ A puny boy who can't look after himself, well that ends now, I'll show him just how tough I really am, and I'll do that by beating the shit out of you two."

Stan and Speck looked at each other again, trying not to laugh, how exactly did this little dude plan on beating them up.

"Look, buddy," Speck began, "Brock didn't send us here, we only came here to warn you about the adults that are- "

"Shut it!" Gage demanded, "I'm sure that's exactly what Brock told you to say, he'll soon see that he can no longer push me around."

Stan sighed. "What are you going to do? We're both twice your size, dude."

Gage smiled. "I don't have to beat you up, I can just have someone else do it for me."

Stan and Speck looked around at all the grinning faces. Stan was back to gripping his mace, while Speck could feel his gun and hammer practically begging to be taken out and used to threaten these kids. But he had wait. _Not yet._ He told himself.

"Oh yeah?" Stan said, "and who exactly do you plan on using to get your message across?"

Gage smiled wider, turned around and shouted.

"Hank! Hawk! Get your asses over here!" As soon as he was done shouting there was movement under what Stan and Speck originally thought was a pile of candy wrappers. Two big kids suddenly rose up from the pile causing the wrappers to slide away. One of them was brown-skinned and had dark hair covering his eyes. While the other one had light skin, brown hair that was in the style of a mohawk, and a missing front tooth.

"What do you want?" The brown-skinned one said, groggily. "We're trying to sleep."

"Whatever," Gage said back and then he pointed to Stan and Speck. "You see these kids here? They were talking shit about you, they were saying that they could beat you up and that you're both pussies."

"What?" the boys both said at once.

"They don't look so tough to me," The boy with the mohawk said, as he brought a fist to the palm of his hand.

"Then why don't you two teach them a lesson." Gage said, and the two boys smiled.

"This is bullshit!" Stan cried. Trying his best not to sound scared. Speck, on the other hand, remained calm.

"This is all just a huge misunderstanding," he said, "we don't want to fight we're only here to warn you about the grown-ups."

"See what I mean?" Gage said, "They don't think we can handle a few measly grown-ups."

"You two just made the biggest mistakes of your lives," said the brown-skinned one.

Stan suddenly recognized these two boys. Hank and Hawk. Hank was the brown-skinned one with dark hair, and Hawk was the light-skinned one with the mohawk. They terrorized Royal Woods during Halloween last year and stole several kid's bags of candy. Luckily the Loud family was able to scare the crap out of them by tricking them into going into Lucy's scary corn maze and once they were gone Lincoln and Clyde gave everyone their own candy since the two bullies ate everyone else's candy. Stan then shook his head. He was about to get the shit beat out of him, why was he thinking about the Loud family. He held up his mace in a defensive stance and Gage ordered one of the kids to take it from him. A kid snuck up behind Stan and stole his mace.

"Hey!" he cried. Now he was defenseless. He looked over to Speck who told the kids who surrounded him that he didn't have a weapon on him. He showed them his empty pockets and they were satisfied. They didn't know that his jacket had a secret pocket that held his gun or that he was hiding a hammer in one of his sleeves. Idiots.

Gage ordered the kids to escort Stan and Speck to the middle of the field in the backyard so there'd be plenty of room to fight, and so everyone could get a good look.

"What are we going to do?" Stan asked Speck as they were being led to where they were going to fight.

"I guess we'll have to fight," Speck told him. "Do you have any fighting experience?"

"My mom made me take karate when I was younger…" Stan began.

"And?"

"…And I cried on my first day at the karate studio and we never went back."

"Nice," Speck sarcastically remarked.

"What about you?" Stan asked.

"I'm not too bad at dodging and evading."

"Dodging won't help if we can't fight." Stan said, bitterly.

Speck just shrugged.

Soon everyone stopped and began to huddle around the combatants, ready to witness the carnage that was about to unfold.

"So… you plan on using that one thing?" Stan asked, acknowledging the gun in Specks pocket.

"Soon…"

"How soon is soon?"

"Soon."

Stan and Speck were now facing Hank and Hawk who were both grinning, ready to pound in some faces. Stan was going to fight Hank, and Speck was going to fight Hawk.

"It doesn't have to be this way," Speck said, as a he turned to Gage. "We can all just leave this place and team up with the kids in Royal Woods and beat these grown-ups."

"Oh, I plan on going to Royal Woods later," Gage said, "Right after we're done beating the shit out of you two and then beating the shit out of the grown-ups you said we can't handle."

Speck sighed.

"Ding ding!" Gage yelled, which signaled the beginning of the fight.

Stan held his fists out pathetically as Hank advanced on him. Stan closed his eyes and swung at the larger kid who just knocked his arm away and clocked him on the left side of his face, sending flashes of pain throughout his head, and cheers through the crowd. Stan managed to stay on his feet, however, and tried to take another swing, only for the same thing to happen.

Meanwhile Hawk had advanced on Speck and was throwing punches. Punches that Speck was effortlessly dodging. Which pissed Hawk off.

"Hold still, damnit!" He growled.

"I don't want to fight," Speck told him.

Hawk looked over to see Hank going off on Stan. He was having much better luck than Hawk was, which pissed him off even more.

"Hank, you want to trade?"

"No way, man," Hank responded. "I'm having too much fun with this dude."

Stan hit Hank with a closed fist, but it didn't do much, other than make him angrier. He punched Stan again, this time knocking Stan flat. Stan was now looking at the sky, imagining his family looking down at him getting his ass beat by some punk. Which caused rage to boil inside of him. Hank came into view and stood over him, smiling. Stan raised a leg and kicked him in the crotch only to end up kicking something hard and plastic.

"Nice try," Hank laughed. "But I'm always prepared for a strike to the junk." He knocked on his jockstrap through his jeans and then sat on top of Stan and began to pulverize him even more.

"Stan!" Speck cried, as he watched his fighting partner get mercilessly punched in the face. He had only looked away for a second, but it gave Hawk all the incentive to bum-rush him. Speck turned and looked back at Hawk who was charging him like a bull. He knew what he had to do.

Speck fell to his knees and flung his arm which cause the hammer to eject out of his sleeve. He caught the hammer by the grip and swung as hard as he could towards Hawks knee. Luckily for Speck, Hawk wasn't wearing any knee pads.

There was snapping sound as the head of the hammer made contact and Hawk cried out in pain as he collapsed to the ground. Cradling his wounded knee.

Hank heard his friend cry out and looked to see his friend in excruciating pain.

"Hawk?" Hank said, with concern in his voice. Forgetting all about Stan.

Stan suddenly regained his senses and noticed Hanks hand close to his face. An idea popped into his head and he seized the moment. He brought his head up and bit down on Hanks right thumb.

Now it was Hank who was crying out in pain. He yelled and delivered swift blows to Stan's head. But Stan just ended up biting down harder and harder. Blood began to fill his mouth as he pierced the skin and continued to bite all the way down to the bone.

Hank was screaming incoherently. He wanted to beg Stan to stop, but the pain was too great. All he could do was scream.

Stan began to grind his teeth on the bone as hard as he could and soon the thumb was severed. Stan held the thumb against the roof of his mouth with his tongue as he felt Hank's weight shift off him.

Hank was now writhing in pain on the ground and Stan rose to a sitting position and spat out the thumb as well as some bile as he coughed hysterically.

Everyone who was standing around began to cry out at what they had just witnessed. Speck shuffled over to Stan and helped him to his feet. It was clear that the fight was over.

"Took you long enough," Stan croaked. His face was bloody and bruised.

"Sorry, I didn't want to hurt anyone." Speck told him. And Stan just glared at him.

"What the fuck was that?" Gage shouted. "Why do you still have weapons?"

Speck shrugged. "I guess you all aren't as clever as you think."

Gage clenched his teeth and looked down at Hank and Hawk, who were both still crying.

"Useless, idiots," he spat before turning to look at everyone who was standing around him. "All of you, take his hammer and beat them until all the bones in their bodies are shattered."

Several kids began to advance towards Stan and Speck. The two boys looked at each other again and Speck knew what he had to do. He quickly pulled the gun from his pocket and fired a round into the air.

Everyone flinched and put their hands to their ears.

"What the fucking fuck?" Gage yelled. "Where did you- "

"Shut up," Speck demanded, finally losing his cool. Pointing the gun at everyone who held out their hands and backed away as the barrel whisked past them. "I came here out the goodness of my heart to warn you about the huge group of grown-ups that I saw and how do you repay me? By trying to beat the ever-loving shit out of me and my friend."

"Bullshit," Gage said, "I know it was Brock who sent you to convince me to come join him and his pussy ass group and you can't make me- "

Speck pointed the gun at Gage and fired. Missing his head by only a few centimeters. Gage was so shocked that he didn't even flinch. He just stood there. Eyes wide. Mouth hanging open.

"I don't even know Brock," Speck shouted. "And I don't care why you think I'm here, now you can either come with me, away from this place. Away from the grown-ups. Or you can stay here and be ripped to pieces once they finally show up. Now what's it going to be?"

No one said anything. The only sounds that filled the air were the sounds of Hank and Hawk sobbing.

"Well?"

Gage regained his composure, and his face turned cold and angry again.

"Fuck you," he said.

"Fuck me? Fuck you!" Speck countered, still pointing the gun at Gage who began to walk up to him. "Don't make me shoot you."

"If you were going to shoot me you would have done it already," Gage said, as a smile formed back on his face.

"Well then give me a reason to."

"I've given you plenty of reasons to." He then turned and told the kids to take his gun, but no one did anything. "Why aren't any of you listening? He's not going to kill you."

"I don't have to kill them," Speck said, "I just have to shoot them. And in time without proper treatment or medicine, they'll end up dying. Maybe in a few minutes, a few hours, a few days, a few weeks. If any of them live that long. But I will say if they do, it'll be the worst few weeks of their lives.

Everyone continued to look at each other too afraid to do anything.

"Now are any of you going to come with me or am I just wasting my time?"

A few kids looked like they _did_ want to leave but were too afraid to say anything. Speck then looked at Gage who seemed to be getting angrier and angrier with each passing second until he finally shouted.

"FUCK YOU!"

"Is that the only insult you can think of?" Speck asked him.

"Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!" he shouted some more.

"I guess so," Speck chuckled. And then Gage continued to shout.

"You know what? I'll show you that we _can_ look after ourselves and we'll start by taking on the group of grown-ups by ourselves."

"What?" Speck said. "You couldn't possibly- "

"Everyone grab your weapons and follow me," Everyone was hesitant to do as they were told. "NOW!" Gage barked, and everyone sprang into motion.

"What about them?" A kid asked, pointing to Hank and Hawk who were still crying over their injuries.

"Leave them, there nothing but a couple of pussies."

Speck threatened Gage with the gun again.

"Stop," he ordered. "You don't know what your getting yourselves into." Gage ignored him and grabbed a wooden club with spikes sticking out of it. "I said _stop!_ "

"Or what, you'll shoot me?" Gage sneered.

Speck didn't respond.

"That's what I thought." Soon Gage and his gang were heading towards the part of town Speck had warned them about.

"Let's just get out of here." Stan said to Speck and tried to tug him along.

"No," Speck said. "I'm going to follow them."

"Are you serious? Why would you do that? We need to get the heck out of here."

"I'm going to follow them," Speck repeated. "Hopefully once they see how large that group of adults is they'll realize their mistake and come back with us to Royal Woods."

"Why would we even want them with us at Royal Woods at this point?"

"Because, I have a feeling that that group of grown-ups are going to move on eventually and they might end up heading towards Royal Woods. And if that happens, then those kids at the schools are going to need all the help they can get."

Stan nodded and then looked back at Hank and Hawk.

"What about them?"

Speck looked back at the two boys. Hank was holding his thumb and trying to put in back on his hand as if it would magically reattach itself and Hawk was still holding his knee bawling his eyes out.

Speck sighed. "We'll come back for them."

* * *

Gage and his group were marching on. Ready for battle. Ready to take on the world no matter how big it was. Stan and Speck were slowly sauntering along at the end of the group. Stan had got his mace back and was holding it like it was the most precious thing in the world to him. While Speck was still holding his gun in his right hand and his hammer in his left. Every now and then they'd spot a random grown-up and take it down, causing a wave of cheers to erupt from the group.

 _I'll show them_. Gage kept telling himself. _I'll show them that I'm stronger than I look. I'll take down these adults and then go and brag to Brock about my accomplishment._

"Up ahead!" someone shouted, and Gage looked to see a group of adults at the end of the street facing something that was being obstructed by a large mansion.

"Kill them all!" Gage demanded, and he and the others began to advance on the adults.

Stan and Speck stopped. They knew where they were. No doubt these adults were part of the large group. All they could do now was watch and wait for Gage to realize that his group was outmatched.

The group was taking it to the adults. They were a force to reckoned with- at first. The Hazeltucky kids were slashing and hacking down loads of grown-ups.

"Oooh, this is _so_ hard," Gage joked. "You guys were right, we couldn't handle this group."

Stan and Speck waited for Gage to realize just how large this horde of grown-ups was. But he was oblivious, not a care in the world. All he wanted to do was kill every last one of these grown-ups.

"Come on!" he shouted, "Is that all you got?"

Still, Stan and Speck were waiting.

"Hurry up all ready," Speck moaned as Gage's group continued to go to town.

Stan was getting impatient too. He was about to turn to Speck and tell him that they should just leave these jerks when suddenly he felt cold, dead hands clasp around his neck.

He didn't even have a chance to say anything as he was dragged away from Speck who flinched as Stan was pulled away from him.

"Stan!" he yelled as Stan was slammed to the ground by a diseased male.

Speck took a quick glance back at Gage's group who were still in constant motion, oblivious to what was going on behind them. He swore, then gripped his hammer and took a swing at the adult. Bashing its brains in. He then helped Stan shove it off him and helped him back up.

"Thanks," he said, struggling to catch his breath.

Speck was about to say, "You're welcome," but suddenly saw something that made him say, "It's not over yet."

Stan looked to see more greens approaching from the side. There was no way Gage, or his group would see these greens as they were obstructed by a large mansion as well.

"Gage!" Speck yelled. But he and his group were still distracted by the fight. The grown-ups were getting closer.

"We need to run!" Stan shouted and looked as though he was ready to run a marathon.

Speck swore, aimed his gun at the closest adult and fired. The gun shot alerted Gage and his group.

"Run!" Speck shouted. A lot of the kids looked confused and then saw that Speck was pointing at something they couldn't see.

Gage was about to swear at him when he suddenly saw the other surge of adults come into view. Too many to fight. He was suddenly overflowing with panic. He _finally_ realized that they were outmatched. He yelled at the others to run and they wasted no time. They ran as fast as they could, many bumping into each other and knocking themselves over. Some weren't fast to get up and were pulled into the mass of bodies. Their screams were loud at first and then muffled.

Stan was ahead of everyone else. Close behind was Speck not running as fast intentionally to make sure the others wouldn't fall behind. Gage and the others finally caught up to him. The look of fear was evident on his face. He then looked at Speck with a look that said, _"You were right."_ Speck was above saying, _"I told you so."_ But he was definitely mad at Gage for leading some of his group to their deaths after he'd warned them.

Stan continued to run faster than everyone else. Luckily the others could easily outrun the pursuing grown-ups as well. They were now running past the mansion Gage and his group were hanging out at.

"Wait!" Speck cried out, "We need to go get Hank and Hawk."

"Screw them!" Gage said, "They're no use to us injured."

Speck swore at him, but Gage and the others continued to follow Stan towards Royal Woods. He decided to go back for them by himself. He made his way past some brick walls and hedges that obstructed his view of the backyard of the mansion. He was now in the yard but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that something else had beat him to the two boys. Throughout the entire lawn of the mansion were nothing but grown-ups.

 _Where did these come from?_ He wondered as he slowly back away. He knew that Hank and Hawk were most likely dead, but he had to get confirmation somehow. He climbed a nearby tree and scanned the area. That's when he saw _him._ Standing over everyone holding a severed leg in one hand and a sledgehammer in the other was The Tower.

Speck swore at himself. He'd led The Tower's group right to Gage's group. Speck then looked to his left and saw the other adults approaching, still too many to count. He quickly climbed down the tree and continued after Stan and Gage and the others. Wondering what was going to happen when the large group of adults ran into The Tower and his group. He wondered if they'd fight each other, ignore each other, or team up together.

No time to think about that now. They had to get Royal Woods and warn the kids about the approaching horde.

The sun was beginning to set, but the day was far from over.

 **8\. Christopher Savanski X**

Chris was in a deep sleep. He had crashed completely. Over the last several hours he had happened upon loads of drugs hidden away in the mansion he was staying at. _Rich assholes buying stupid things._ He thought. Then after some brief consideration he decided to try the drugs out for himself.

At first, he was on cloud nine. He felt powerful. He felt invincible. He felt like the strongest man in the world. Nothing could touch him. And then the drugs wore off and he was back to reality. He decided to go to sleep. And was dreaming about being in the clouds looking down on everyone and everything when he heard a voice.

Crony's voice.

 _Chris, we heard something. Something loud in the distance. A bang. Maybe it was a gun shot._

Chris ignored him and a few seconds later Crony spoke again.

 _We heard another one. Someone is definitely nearby firing a gun, or something. Should we do something?_

Chris didn't respond. He just wanted to enjoy his dream. A few minutes later, Crony spoke again more urgently.

 _Kids! There are kids here. They're trying to attack us. They don't know who or what they're dealing with._

That finally caused Chris to mumble a response.

"Then kill them for crying out loud so I can sleep."

 _Gladly,_ Crony responded. _You heard him. Kill them all!_

A few seconds later Crony spoke again.

 _It's working. They're no match for us. They're running scared. Should we go after them?_

"Sure, whatever," Chris mumbled some more.

 _You heard the man. After them!_

A few seconds later.

 _Whoa. Chris, there's another group of adults. Apparently this one has a leader too._

Chris didn't know what to make of this information.

"Well, take him out. There's only room for one leader. Me."

 _He's a big man,_ Crony went on, _He's actually impressed by the size of your group. He says he's willing to join forces with us and accept you as his leader._

"Well in that case…"

A few minutes later.

 _Chris, I'm sorry to report this, but the kids got away._

"No matter," Chris continued to mutter. "They'll get theirs. Every kid will get what's coming to them eventually. For now, I just want to rest up for another day and then we'll move on."

 _Are you sure?_ Crony asked.

"Yes. After all, what difference will a day make?"

* * *

 **THE ENEMY IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK**

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It sure is hard to come up with ways to give every character some screen time. I don't know how Charlie Higson did it. Hopefully it won't be that hard in the spin-off series since it's mostly going to focus on one character. (I'm sure it's pretty obvious who that character is go to be.)  
_

 _Also, part of me feels like I'm focusing too much on my OC's. I hope you guys don't mind.  
_

 _Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter. There are only two chapter left of this phase: The prelude to the battle against Chris' army, and then... **THE BATTLE!**_


	12. Closer

**8k views! Thanks!**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 ** _One day you'll leave this world behind. So live a life you will remember._  
R.I.P. Avicii.**

* * *

 **The Terror**

 **Chapter 4: Closer**

 **1\. The Princess III**

The Princess and her loyal subjects got closer and closer to where they heard the gunshots. So close. They reached a wooden fence which they snapped through like it was a twig. Her stomach was screaming for the flesh of the young ones. They were in a big green field surrounded by various crops. Stomping through the overgrown grass.

A house was coming into view, surrounded by barns, sheds, and silos. And more crops. There had to be people nearby.

She ordered her subject to tear the place apart. And they did just that. They barged into the house, the barn, she sheds, and the silos. Leaving no stone unturned. They ripped off floorboards. Pounded holes in walls. Knocked down support beams causing the structures to collapse.

The farm was in ruin in a matter of minutes. But no kids.

The Princess threw a tantrum. Cursing at all of her subjects who just stood around and took her verbal abuse. Eventually she calmed down. Having a meltdown wouldn't help anyone. They had to press on. She ordered her subjects to proceed and off they went. Her prey couldn't run forever.

 **2\. Speck X**

Stan and Speck hadn't stopped running since they'd started. Everyone was too scared to stop. They were now in Royal Woods and the middle school began to come into view.

"Is that the middle school?" Gage asked.

"Yeah," Stan answered. "Brock should be there."

"Great," Gage sarcastically responded.

They reached the doors of the middle school and Stan began to beat on them frantically.

A door opened slightly to reveal a dark-haired kid who Stan recognized as Owen from the last time he was here.

"Can I help you, dudes?" He asked.

"Yes," Stan answered. "Where's Brock?"

"He's not here," Owen said. "He left with a few kids to go to the outskirts of town. I'm not sure when he'll be back."

Stan swore. "Well, who's in charge, now?" he asked.

Owen told him that I girl named Aubrey was in charge.

"We need to talk to her now!" Stan demanded.

"Sure, I'll just go get her. Be right back."

"No, we don't have time!" Stan began to raise his voice.

"What's the rush?" Owen asked, and Stan told him.

Owen's eyes got wide, and he wasted no time letting them in. He led them to the gym where Aubrey was, as well as all the other kids in the middle school. Everyone looked at the new arrivals and Aubrey was about to reprimand Owen for letting complete strangers in. But Stan spoke first and told her as fast as he could about Chris' army and that they needed to get everyone to the elementary school.

Aubrey's eyes widened just like Owens did. As everyone began to talk frantically at once and the younger kids began to cry. She began to shake, not knowing what to make of this information.

"Hurry!" Stan shouted, which broke her out of her panic.

"Okay, okay." She responded. Then she turned to address the other kids. "Listen up everyone, we need to evacuate to the elementary school at once. Leave your personal possessions behind and only take weapons with you if you have any."

Despite what Aubrey said, everyone began to run around the place in a frenzy of panic and confusion picking up anything that belonged to them like how a boyfriend and a girlfriend would run around the girl's room, naked, picking up their clothes as they heard the girl's parents arrive home.

Aubrey then turned to Owen and told him and his friends who were in charge of guarding the place to run around and look for any kids who could be out and about the halls, or bathrooms, or the cafeteria. He nodded, and he and few other kids hurried out of the gym.

"Do you have any weapons?" Speck stepped up and asked.

"Yeah," Aubrey answered. And she told them about a room they had been using as a weapons storage.

"Excellent," he said, "Go have everyone go in their and take what they can."

Aubrey nodded and whistled to get everyone's attention. She told everyone to hurry to the weapons storage and grab what they could carry.

Everyone hurried and shoved past, Stan, Speck and Gage's group. Which caused Gage to swear at those who bumped past him.

It was first come, first serve in the stock room. Everyone was picking up what they could get their hands on. Some were fighting and arguing over who had what first.

Aubrey yelled at them. Saying now was the time for fleeing, not fighting.

Soon everyone was waiting near the entrance of the school. Ready to get the heck out of dodge. The older kids were still chattering all at once. While the younger kids were still crying. Some older kids tried their best to calm them down, while others completely ignored them, too focused on getting ready to run as fast as they could to the elementary school to worry about sniveling kids.

Owen and the rest of his crew arrived with a few kids they'd found wandering the halls. All of them looking confused. As soon as everyone was accounted for, as far as Aubrey knew, they headed off towards the elementary school.

None of the kids from the middle school could believe how quickly things had changed.

 **3.**

"For your sake you better leave me tied up. Because as soon as my hands are free, I'm going to shoot you," Grant said to Brock, who was unfazed by his threat.

The sun was setting. The day for the most part had been a success. Except for when the greens ambushed the kids, and a few were killed. But on the bright sight side, they managed to gather a wagon load of guns. And several animals. Brock kept telling himself that their deaths would not be in vain.

"I said I was sorry," Brock said. "And besides, it was for your own good."

"I don't care," Grant went on. "I was willing to die defending my home, and so were my brother and sister. How could you deny us that?"

"That's what I'm starting to ask myself,"Brock said. Which just made Grant swear at him. Then he just began to pout once Brock began to ignore him.

As they walked, the Loud sisters couldn't get the images of what they'd witnessed out of their minds. Luna seeing that poor kid and his horses be overwhelmed by greens, Luan seeing Eric get beheaded, and Lynn accidentally killing Jay, even though he was pretty much dead already. They walked close to each other. They couldn't wait to get back and see their younger siblings.

After a while they were nearing the elementary school. From the roof Tucker could see them approaching. He ran in to go tell the others. The group then reached the front doors and Doug opened them. His eyes widened, and he whistled when he saw the guns and the animals.

"Mission accomplished," Brock said.

* * *

"What the fuck?" Duke said. As he reached the front of the school and saw all that Brock had brought back with him.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Brock said.

"Hell yeah!" Joey said, excitedly. But then he retracted slightly as Duke glared at him.

"Where did you even get these things?" Duke asked.

"From the farm," Brock told him.

Duke could feel himself getting angrier and angrier as Brock told him about how he'd acquired the animals and guns. Mentally swearing at himself for not going with him. If only he'd gone with them, then he could take credit for finding these things too. But instead it was Brock who everyone was applauding and cheering for as they brought all the weapons in. No doubt everyone was going to like Brock more than him now.

Duke was about to say something when Brock said that they should hold an emergency meeting.

"What about?" he asked.

Brock led him and Joey away from the others and told him about the large group of adults they'd seen. How they were most likely on their way there as they spoke. Duke felt a lump form in his throat.

"When do you think they'll get here?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

"Hard to say," Brock said. "They weren't really walking that fast, so maybe a day at the most.

Duke swore. "Okay, let's go get the others. We need to plan accordingly."

Just then, they heard shouting. Everyone looked to see a large group of kids approaching.

"What the hell?" Duke said, as he studied all the faces he could see.

Brock was also scanning the group when he recognized a girl who was running in front of the group. It was Aubrey. What was she doing? Then he noticed a shorter kid with a shaved head running next to her. He recognized him instantly as his cousin, Gage.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said, trying not to laugh.

As the group got closer Duke got a better look at the faces. At the front of the group was a girl, as well as a kid wearing a brown hoodless jacket, and next to him was a kid with dark hair whose face looked all bruised as if he had just been in a fight. The closer he got the more familiar he looked.

Duke began to shake his head. "No. It can' be…"

* * *

The older Loud sisters had made their way to the nurse's office as soon as they'd arrived. It was cute to see Lincoln and his younger sisters all huddled around him. Then Lola woke up and squealed once she saw that they were back. She, Lana and Lucy ran up and hugged them, while Clyde walked up and handed Lily to Luna.

Lincoln smiled. "I sure am glad that you're all back," he said. "How did everything go."

"Great," Luna said. And she told them about the guns and the farm. And then she asked Lincoln how he was.

"Much better now that you're back. Plus, Sanjay says I'm well enough to leave."

His older sisters all smiled, and Luna asked him why he was still lying in bed.

"I don't know?" Lincoln said. "I guess it's just too comfortable."

They all laughed and hugged each other.

After a while Luna spoke. "Come on, let's get outta here.

* * *

In the foyer of the elementary school everyone was talking at once. Aubrey was talking to Brock while Gage stood behind her with his arms crossed, glaring at Brock. Brock had said, "Hello" to Gage when he'd arrived but then Aubrey started to bombard Brock about what Stan and Speck had told her about the large horde of grown-ups they'd seen. Duke was talking to Stan, asking him where the hell he'd been and that he was glad to see that he was all right. Not that Stan cared what Duke thought at this point.

Maggie was happy, yet a little confused, to see her friends from the middle school. They'd nodded to each other once they saw each other and now she just awkwardly stood next to them.

Soon Brock whistled which got everyone's attention.

"All right, listen up! I think it's time we all went to the auditorium to discuss some things." He then turned to Duke and Joey and told them to go to the gym and gather everyone up. Based on what Aubrey had told him, they needed to act fast.

"Hey, you can't tell me what to do," Duke said. "I'm in charge of this place."

Brock just continued to look at Duke and then spoke. "Okay, what do think we should do?"

"Uh… I think we need to gather everyone up and discuss what do about these grown-ups."

"Good thinking," Brock quipped.

Duke swore silently to himself before continuing. "But first let's take care of these guns and animals. Let's store the guns in the weapons room and take the animals out back."

Everyone nodded and began to move the things away.

Duke and Joey were about to walk away when Stan grabbed Duke by the arm. "Wait. Where's Mary?" he asked.

Duke narrowed his eyes and told him that she was in the home economics room.

Stan left without saying a word as he began to make his way towards the classroom, still carrying his mace. Ignoring Duke, who shouting after him about how he was wandering off without helping them unload the wagons.

He soon rounded a corner and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw _them_. Walking across the hall. Oblivious to his presence. The Loud siblings. Stan had been so worried about Mary that he forgot to ask Duke about the Loud family. He could feel his blood begin to boil as he gripped his mace tighter than he ever had before. He could see them all smiling and chatting as they walked without a care in the world. The younger siblings were still alive. It wasn't fair. Why did they get to live when his own sister didn't? She never did anything wrong. She never went into the basement of the school and caused a bunch of grown-ups to make their way into the building and kill kids. She especially didn't lead a whole bunch of kids on a failed strike against Grease Monkey.

Stan began to walk aggressively after them with only one goal in mind. He was going to take his mace and-

"Stan?" He heard a soft voice call out.

Stan stopped again. Looked over his shoulder then turned around when he saw Mary with her brother Matt walking out of a bathroom. She had a surprised and concerned expression on her face.

The two teenagers just stood and stared into each other's eyes while Matt just looked back and forth at them. Tears began to form in Mary's eyes. She couldn't believe that Stan was alive and standing right in front of her. He looked like he was in pain. All bruised and sad looking, and that just made her tears flow even more.

"Stan," she said again and walked up to him. Bringing a hand up to his face to make sure he was real. He winced when she touched his face which made her apologize. She left her hand on his cheek for a few moments. And then began to caress it.

Her soft touch immediately brought Stan's rage to a halt. She soothed the savage beast that was residing inside of him. And then he dropped his mace, fell to his knees and began to cry. Mary knelt beside him and wrapped her arms around him and cried too.

Meanwhile Matt just stood next to them awkwardly, unsure of what to do so he just began to pick his nose.

 **4.**

The Loud siblings soon reached the gym to see several kids walking out of it.

"What's going on?" Luan said. Even though there was no way her siblings would know.

That's when Lincoln spotted Andy he was carrying Lincoln's dog Charles because Clyde had asked him to watch him. Lincoln called out to him and asked where everyone was going. Charles hoped out of Andy's hands and ran over to Lincoln and licked him as he pet him.

"To the auditorium," Andy told them, "Apparently Duke's called an emergency meeting, and everyone needs to be there."

The Loud siblings became uneasy. Last time Duke had an emergency meeting in the auditorium it didn't go too well. But they followed the group anyway.

* * *

In the auditorium Duke and Brock stood front and center on the stage. With Joey and Aubrey a few feet away from them. The Loud siblings looked around for a place to sit. The place was packed with over a hundred and fifty kids. They noticed some kids were from the middle school. Some, however, they didn't recognize.

In the front row of seats were the three kids from the farm. Still tied up. Gage and his group also sat near the front since they were new, and Duke wanted to keep an eye on them. Sure, Gage was related to Brock, but you could never be too careful. Ethan and Lexi stood leaning against the stage. Maggie was still with her group of friends. Cooper sat with his arms crossed, looking around at everyone. Tom sat next to him being observant as well. Shade walker sat by himself. Too afraid to take out a joint and smoke it for fear of someone asking him for a hit. Speck sat in the last row of chairs near the doors. He watched as the Loud siblings shuffled past him and took their seats near Shade, who turned to them and smiled.

"So, did you hear?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Luna asked.

"Stan's alive."

The Loud sibling's jaws dropped and they all exchanged worried glances.

"How?" Luna said.

Shade shrugged. "I don't know? But from what I heard he convinced the group from the middle school and another group to come here for some reason. I stopped listening after a while."

Luna began to look around the auditorium when she spotted her. A blonde girl with a blue streak in her hair. Sam, sitting next to her younger brother and her other friends from the middle school. Luna was happy to see her but wondered why they were all here. Remembering how she told her that she didn't want to leave the middle school.

Then Luan spoke up. "Where's Stan right now?"

Shade shrugged again.

Luan gulped. "I hope he's still not mad at us."

From what the Loud sisters had heard from Tom. Stan was last seen at the high school. Fighting several grown-ups who surrounded him. Everyone thought he was dead.

The doors to the auditorium opened and The Loud siblings, along with almost everyone else in the room looked to see Stan walking in with Mary and her brother Matt. His face was bruised, and he looked very upset. He scanned the auditorium taking everything in. As his gaze crept over the Loud siblings Lincoln and his younger sisters looked away while Luna looked at Stan with pity. Luan brought a hand to her mouth and Lynn just looked at him without any hint of emotion.

He, Mary and her brother then went over and sat next to a kid wearing a brown hoodless jacket.

"All right, I guess that's everyone," Brock said to Duke, who nodded. "Can I have your attention please?" Brock's voice boomed through the entire auditorium. Shutting everyone up.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why we're all here," Brock began. Everyone began to murmur at once as he went on. "I'm sure you've noticed that me and a few other kids recently went over to the Winston's farm near the outskirts of town," He held a hand out acknowledging Grant and his siblings who still looked unhappy. "And while we _did_ manage to find what we were looking for, we also found something else."

The murmurs began to increase in intensity and Gage shouted up to him, "Well don't keep us in suspense, what did you see?"

Brock too a deep breath. "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it ladies and gents. I saw a horde of grown-ups. There had to be at least a thousand of them. They all seemed to be heading in this direction."

Everyone began to panic upon hearing this startling revelation. Some kids swore, some kids cried. Some kids got up and demanded that they all should get the hell out of here.

"I'm afraid that's not an option." Brock responded to the kids who suggested fleeing.

"Why not?" some kids asked. Even the Loud siblings and everyone who went with Brock to the farm were curious.

Brock extended a hand towards his second command Aubrey and told everyone what she told him. "Because Aubrey has informed me that Stan, and a boy called Speck, and Gage and his group saw an even larger horde in Huntington Oaks. They very well may be on their way here as well."

The panic in the room increased tenfold as Lincoln tried his best to calm down Lola, while Lana and Lucy just sat still with their mouths wide open. Luan brought a hand back to her mouth and began to cry while Lynn swore. Luna was trying to remain calm for her younger siblings but even she was beginning to let the fear consume her.

Meanwhile, next to them, Shade began to shift wildly in his seat.

"You've got to be kidding me!" He cried. "There's more of them? In the words of Nell Carter: Gimme a break!"

"So?" another kid asked, "Then we just won't go in either of those directions. Simple as that."

"No, it's not that simple," Brock said.

"How?"

"Because, we've fortified this place. If we run now, we'll be running forever. And I don't plan on letting those sickos take this place."

"Now do you get it?" Grant shouted. "Why me and my siblings didn't want to leave the farm."

"Yes, I do."

Everyone didn't sound too convinced.

"Why don't we all just leave on the bus?" Someone asked.

"Because the tires are still slashed from when the Zealots attacked, and besides, not everyone would fit," Duke answered.

"What the hell is a zealot?" Gage shouted up. But Duke and Brock ignored him.

"Look, we have guns, and ammunition, and people. If we work together we can beat these grown-ups. Make the world a better place," Brock said.

"What if we don't want to stay?" A kid asked.

"Then you can leave. But let me ask you: do you really think you'll be better off out there than in here?"

No one said anything.

"Good. Then let's get started on a battle plan."

"We have guns," Duke said. "But do you really think that they will be enough?"

"I don't know?" Brock said. "We may need more than just guns to defend this place."

"What about traps?" Aubrey suggested.

"Good idea," Brock said before turning to the crowd. "Does anyone here know how to set traps, or something like that?"

Luan felt her heart skip a beat and her entire body froze. She could feel her sibling's gazes shifting towards her. She was great at setting up traps for her pranks when April Fool's day came around. And normally she wouldn't miss an opportunity to set up a prank. But this was different. At that moment she was too scared to say anything. She then looked at her siblings who were looking at her with compassionate eyes. At that moment she realized what she had to do.

"Anyone?" Brock said.

"I do." Luan said standing up with an arm raised. And everyone else looked at her. Brock instantly recognized her.

"Luan. You know how to set traps."

"In a way, yes," she said. "I always set up elaborate pranks for my siblings on April Fool's day. How are traps any different?"

Brock nodded. "Do you know where we can get supplies to set up traps- or pranks?"

"I normally get them from Franny's Prank Emporium. We passed one on our way to the farm, remember?"

"Yeah I do. Do you think you'd know how to set up other kinds of traps, that aren't pranks?"

"Maybe," she said.

"Good enough for me. I'll gather up a team and then we can go to the prank emporium as well as the some of the stores next to that store to look for other things we can use as traps."

Luan nodded and sat back down. The weight of what she's just volunteered to do took a moment to hit her. She then looked at Luna who was smiling softly at her.

"You'll come with me, right?" she asked.

"Of course," Luna said as she placed a hand on Luan's shoulder. "I'm proud of you, sis."

"Count me in too!" Lynn said.

Lincoln and his younger sisters weren't too keen on the idea of their older siblings go back out there again, especially with a horde approaching. But they knew it had to be done.

"All right," Brock said again. "I'm going to need a few people to join me on this mission. But first, I'm going to go to one of the conference rooms to make a list of things to look out for when we go out there. So, if you want to go you can meet me there," He was about to turn to Duke and say something when someone shouted.

"This is bullshit!" Everyone looked to see a read haired boy standing on his seat. "Are we really going to fight these things? Why should we be doing what this guy says instead of running for the hills? Are you all really that blind by your love for this place that you're willing to risk your lives for it?"

Everyone looked around and began to murmur. That when another boy spoke up.

"It's not bullshit," Everyone looked to see who said that. It was Ethan. "I don't blame any of you for wanting to defend this place. I can't tell you how much I wanted to stay and defend my hometown before it was taken over by that pink menace?"

"What pink menace?" Brock asked.

"A female grown-up. We all called her _Princess_ because she was wearing all pink."

Brock's eyes widened when Ethan said that. He remembered seeing a woman grown-up wearing all pink being carried around by other grown-ups like she was queen or something. But he decided to let Ethan keep talking.

"I wanted to stay and fight because that place was my home. Indiana was the only place I'd ever known, and I had to leave it behind because there just wasn't enough of us to stay and fight, so we had no choice to leave. I decided on Royal Woods because it was where my cousin Jake lived. But unfortunately, he's dead and there's nothing I can do about. I can't hang out with him. I can't talk to him. I can't see him again. But what I can do is _live_ for him. And I know there's no way he'd want to leave this place. His home. His one and only home. Just like I'm sure none of you want to leave your home either."

Everyone looked around at each other before Chandler spoked again.

"It's not that I want to leave, I just want to have a future. And I won't get one if I stay here and try to take on an army of, what was it, over two-thousand adults. It's hopeless. A lost cause."

There was even more murmuring before Ethan continued.

"It's never hopeless," he said, "As long as you don't give up."

"You think a cliché line will win us over?" Chandler asked.

Ethan drooped his shoulders and sighed. "No. But let me ask you all something. Are any of you familiar with the NBA team called the Pacers?"

A few kids nodded their heads. The Pacers were a basketball team from Indiana.

 _Oh great. He's not going to brag about Indianapolis sports teams, again is he?_ Lynn thought.

"Well the thing about the Pacers is, they weren't always an NBA team. Back in the sixties they were originally apart of ABA. The American Basketball Association."

"Why are you telling us this?" Chandler asked.

"I'm telling you this because back when they first started they weren't very good and the owners of the team thought about folding them up. But then they turned it around and ended up winning their first ABA championship, so the owners decided not to fold the team."

"And?"

"And if they didn't win that championship then there would be no Pacers and if there's no Pacers then Indianapolis doesn't have a major sports team which means it doesn't become a town big enough to land the Colts and become the major city it is today."

"Your point?" Chandler asked.

"My point is: let's be the team that turns Royal Woods around. Let's win this thing and rebuild this place. Make it better for future generations. Make this a day we can tell out children about, and they can tell their children about. And so on, and so on."

The auditorium was silent for a few seconds. Everyone was taking in Ethan's words. Then, Shade began to slowly clap. And then…no one else did so he just stopped.

"Ethan," Brock said.

"Yeah?"

"That was a really inspiring story."

"Thanks."

"But there's something I have to tell you."

"What?" Ethan asked.

Brock told him about how he saw the woman grown-up wearing all pink. Ethan's eyes widened.

"I knew they'd be on their way here!" Duke said. Not that it mattered at this point.

"Holy shit," Ethan said. Remembering everyone he'd lost when The Princess showed up where he lived. How she seemed to be controlling all the adults around her.

"So, you're saying this _Princess_ seemed to be in charge of that enormous horde you saw?" someone said. And everyone looked to see Brian Allen, the former second smartest kid in Royal Woods, step up.

"Yeah," Ethan answered.

"Interesting."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that means these things have leaders. Commanders. Alpha's. Whatever you want to call them."

The word _leader_ triggered the memory of Speck seeing how all the grown-ups in front of his dad's shop seemed to answer to one man. _The Tower._ He was about to say something when Luna spoke up.

"That reminds me of the time me and my sisters saw this one large adult wielding a sledgehammer the day we first went to the middle school. He just stood around as other, weaker looking adults would pile bodies around him."

Everyone began to chatter.

"And remember that fat grown-up we saw at the high school?" Tom spoke now. "How he just sat around while the other adults worked around him. Not to mention Brick and Grease Monkey."

"That reminds me," it was Joey who spoke now, "when those adults managed to make their way into the school. There was one with a knife and after I killed her. The other grown-ups tried to flee. But we were able to make quick work of them. And then there was one with a crowbar that seemed to put up a fight, as if he was more intelligent than the others. I killed him and then the others had trouble putting up a fight after that.

"That's really starting to give me an idea," Brian said.

"What is it? Brock asked.

"That these things have leaders who tell the others what to do. They act ask commanders and without them the others seem to have no sense of order. Why that is I have no idea? But what I'm saying is: maybe we don't have to focus on killing all the adults, just the ones that are in charge. Then the rest will be a piece of cake."

"Okay," Duke spoke, "we know that The Princess is in charge of the group that Ethan brought here."

Ethan narrowed his eyes at Duke but didn't say anything since he _did_ kind of lead her here.

"And we don't know if Brick or Grease Monkey are still alive after what happened at the high school. And there's also The Tower, where ever he is? Now, the question is: who could be leading this group that Stan and the others saw?"

"I don't know?" said Brock, "But what matters most in getting ready for when they arrive so I'm going to go get to planning, anyone who wants to come with me can meet me in the conference room, like I said."

He got off the stage and walked up to Luan and asked her to follow him. Luna and Lynn said they were going too and then said goodbye to Lincoln and the younger siblings before following Brock out of the auditorium.

"Are you going to go with them?" Mary asked Stan.

"Heck no," he answered. "I've had enough fun for one day.

"Damnit," Maggie swore.

"What's wrong?" her friend sitting next to her asked.

"That one girl, Luan. Is going back out there."

"So?"

"So, that means I'm going to have to go with her."

"Why?"

Maggie looked away from her friend and down at her boots.

"Because I love her."

 **5.**

They'd made their plans and were waiting in the foyer of the elementary school for Brock to finish his conversation with Duke about what they should do while they were gone.

 _Déjà vu._ Shade thought. As he looked around at everyone who was coming: The three oldest Loud sisters, Cooper, Ethan, Lexi, Gage. And of course, Maggie. There were a few unfamiliar faces as well.

"Okay," Brock said, as he walked to the front of the party. "Everybody ready?"

"No," Shade jokingly remarked again.

"Okay then, let's go out and get what we need to finish this fight.

* * *

They'd reached the shopping plaza in a matter of minutes. The bodies of the adults they'd killed earlier were still there. The sun was below the horizon causing a sea of orange to spread across the sky. Everyone was out of breath, but they fought it. They weren't even half way done at this point.

Brock told Cooper, Maggie, Shade, Ethan and Lexi to follow Luan and her sisters to look for things help set up traps while He, Gage and his friends went over to a hardware store to look for tools and other goodies. He told them to put anything useful in the wagon that they brought with them.

They split up and everyone flipped on flashlights they brought with them with weapons at the ready, just in case. They shouted to draw out any stragglers. But there was no response.

"Looks like it's safe," Ethan said. And he turned to look at Brock and they waved to each other and went into the buildings.

Luan told them what to look for and they all began to spread around.

Maggie had to get Luan alone, so she could finally tell her how she felt. She wondered if now was a good time but then again, when was a good time? She stepped up next to Luan and sighed.

"What?" she asked.

"I have a question," Maggie said.

"About…?" Luan sounded slightly annoyed.

"About you."

Luan raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

"Why did you get into comedy?"

Luan sighed. "Can't we talk about this later?"

"There probably won't be a later," Maggie gravely said.

Luan sighed again and looked around to make sure no one would hear her.

"I just like to make people happy," she said.

"Yeah, but why?"

"Because I just do, all right?" she said sharply.

"There has to be a reason. Did you watch a comedy move once or see someone perform and think: _hey, I wouldn't mind giving that a shot?_ "

"I do it because making others happy makes me happy. I hate seeing people sad, sadness is the worst emotion. And if I can do anything to make someone stop being sad. Then that's what I'm gonna do. It gives me a sense of purpose. And a reason to stop being sad myself."

"What do you mean?" Maggie asked.

Luan sighed again. She felt like a whoopee cushion at this point, always letting out air.

"Ever since I was little I was a shy kid, believe it or not. I always had trouble making friends. No one liked me. I was alone. Then one day it was my little brother Lincoln's first day of school. He was nervous and crying. He was afraid no one would like him and make fun of him for his white hair. I knew what it was like to be teased because of my buck teeth. So, I decided to try and cheer him up. I told him that his hair was unique. That it made him special. He didn't sound too convinced. He was afraid people would compare it to snow. Or call him a snowman or something stupid like that. It's funny that that those were insults that he was afraid of. Anyway, I told him that his hair made him look _cool._ Get it? He didn't at first, so I had to explain it to him. And his eyes lit up and he laughed. I also told him that if anyone _does_ make fun of his hair, to tell them that it's white because he has super powers and can freeze things which made him laugh again. And then I said I was glad I could get him to _chill._ Which made him laugh some more."

Luan was done with her story. Maggie was just staring at her. Luan felt embarrassed.

"Yeah, I know. It was a boring story. Not very interesting," she began but Maggie cut her off.

"I didn't think it was boring. I think it was… _sweet_ that the first time you told a joke was to cheer your little brother up." Maggie hated using the word sweet. But that's what Luan was.

Luan couldn't help but smile.

"Now I have a question for you," she said. Which made Maggie tense up.

"Yeah?"

"Why do you keep coming with me whenever I go out? Are you really that big of a fan that you have to follow me around and around and around?" Luan couldn't help but giggle. "But seriously, why are you here?"

"Well…" Maggie began, "I just want to protect my friend. Is that so wrong?"

"I guess not." Luan said and then went about searching the shelves.

Maggie sighed again and looked away to see Shade standing at the end of the aisle watching her. He had a disappointed look on his face and was shaking his head.

She was annoyed. How much of that conversation had he heard? She flicked her wrists at him to try and shoo him away and he did just that.

Maggie took a deep breath. It was now or never. She walked back over to Luan who looked at her and was about to say something when Maggie spoke.

"Look Luan, the reason I came here is because I have to tell you something."

Luan just looked at her, confused, while Maggie had trouble maintaining eye contact.

"Remember what I told you when we were in the sewers a week or so ago? How I felt alone in the gym at the middle school and then you showed up and at that moment, seeing you made my heart happy. You made me realize who I was, and I realized I wanted to be with you, even before that day. Ever since you performed at my birthday party I've been obsessing over you. And… well… I like you, okay. I like you a lot. Not a lot makes me happy, but You're jokes make me happy. Your voice makes me happy. Your laugh makes me happy. You make me happy. That's all I want to be. Happy. And seeing you makes me the happiest girl in the world."

As soon as Maggie was done talking she waited a few seconds for a response and when there was none she looked up and saw that Luan had tears in her eyes. She was crying. Maggie's heart sank.

"Are you okay?" Maggie asked. Trying her best not to let tears form in her eyes as well.

Luan nodded and let out a gurgle sob that made Maggie wince. And then, out of nowhere, Luan hugged Maggie. Maggie's heart felt like it was going to explode and then she put her arms around her too. Finally, she was hugging Luan. She was happy.

"Thank you," Luan said.

Maggie didn't know what to say.

"Thank you," Luan repeated as she let go of Maggie and stepped back. "Ever since I was little I couldn't help but have all kinds of mixed up feelings about people. I wanted to like everyone. But no one liked me. So, I had to try my best not to let anything bother me. To keep a positive attitude. Crack jokes, make puns, play pranks. But the truth was- and still is, I'm just a scared kid. A kid who tries to use comedy to shield herself from the harsh realities of this world."

"Whenever I'd make lame puns I'd always laugh. But no one else would. And it hurt. It hurt bad. Not physically, but emotionally. So, whenever April Fool's day came around. I played pranks on my siblings to help alleviate the pain. But it never went away. And it probably never would. All I ever wanted was to make people happy. To _be_ happy. Which is why one time when my brother became my assistant for my clown shows and started to become more popular than I was, I got jealous and lashed out at him. And then he went to go perform at your birthday party- "

"Terribly," Maggie interjected, and Luan giggled before continuing.

"Yeah. He ended up calling me and begging for help, but I only decided to help for the sake of my business not because of him. And so, I decided to do my mime act and eventually won over the crowd. Seeing a girl as, well, serious as you smile made me happy. That's why I became a comedian to make even the most dejected people happy. And hearing how much that meant to you and how you truly feel makes me happy too."

Maggie grinned. "I told my mom I hated that party and everything about it. But what I didn't tell her is that there was one thing I did like about it: you."

Luan smiled which made Maggie's cold heart jump for joy.

After a brief silence, Maggie looked down at her boots

"So… I know you probably don't like girls the same way I do, but I just had to get that out of me. Who knows how much time we have left?"

"That's where you're wrong, Maggie." Luan said. And Maggie lifted her head up to look at her.

"What do you mean? You do like girls like that? Are you a lesbian, or bisexual?"

"No," Luan said, with a smirk and Maggie's heart sagged a bit.

"Then what?"

"I'm _Pun-_ sexual."

Maggie didn't get it at first but then Luan explained it and she smiled a big goofy smile. And laughed for the first time in a long, long time. She couldn't remember the last time she laughed. And for a moment, everything was all right.

"Now I have another question," she said.

"Yeah?"

"What are going to do about those?" she asked, pointing to Luan's mouth.

"What do you…" Luan suddenly realized what Maggie was talking about. Her braces. "Aw geez, I don't know. Hopefully someone at the school knows how to remove braces. If not, I better _brace_ myself for being stuck with them. Luckily I've already become quite _attached_ to them."

The two girls both shared another laugh and hugged each other again. Maggie was resting her head on Luan's should when she spotted Shade, who was now at the opposite end of the aisle. He smiled and gave her a thumbs up. And Maggie just responded by flipping him off.

At the other end of the store Luna, Lynn and Cooper were searching strenuously.

"I can't believe this is happening," Cooper finally said, trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah, well, it's happening," Lynn said. "Nothing any of us can do except fight."

Cooper nodded. "Are you nervous?"

Lynn looked at him. It was a stupid question, but she answered it anyway.

"Yes, I'm nervous, more for my siblings than myself."

Cooper continued to look at Lynn which prompted her to keep talking.

"I've always been protective of my siblings. If any one of these sickos tries to get to them they'll have to go through me. I'll die before I let anything happen to them." Then she looked down somberly. "I've already failed one. I won't fail anymore."

Cooper quickly decided to change the subject. "You know, being an only child. I've always wanted siblings. Being a big brother always sounded like fun."

Lynn nodded. "It is fun. My favorite part of having siblings is always beating them whenever we play sports, or board games. Although sometimes we fight and bicker and get on each other's nerves, we care about each other and look after one another."

Cooper nodded again, feeling like a bobblehead at this point. "I've been meaning to ask, why did you get into sports anyway?"

Lynn shrugged. "I like competing, and being physical," she simply stated.

"I do too," Cooper said. "But even _I_ have my limits. You, on the other hand, you don't seem to have a limit. It's like you're constantly pushing and pushing yourself to become the best, like losing isn't an option."

Lynn shrugged "I used to be that way."

"What do you mean?"

"I used to think winning was the only thing that mattered. That losing made me less of an athlete. Less of a winner. Less than I was truly worth. Whenever I'd win I'd gloat my butt off and bring others down. Then one day my siblings had enough of me always beating them at board games and conspired against me to beat me at this one stupid game called _The Settlers of Cat-land._ I finally lost a board game and didn't take losing very well. I became even more competitive than I already was: I tried to chug milk faster, wash dishes faster, create the loudest explosions, and fall asleep first as well as snore the loudest. It wasn't until after I found out that my siblings worked together to beat me on purpose that I realized how far I was taking my gloating, so I decided to stop doing it in front of them."

"Now, that didn't stop my need to always win. I didn't realize that winning wasn't everything until much later. You see, I wanted to win a basketball championship one time, so I could accomplish my goal of winning a championship in every sport I played," she told Cooper what those sports were and was about to show him her FLIBBR tattoo (which stood for: Football, Lacrosse, Ice hockey, Baseball, Basketball, and Roller derby) but decided against it.

"But the thing was, I ended up being put on a team called the _Turkey Jerkies_ with others who, well, weren't as skilled as I was. So, I just made them always pass me the ball and did all the work myself. Which worked the first time, but not the second time. After that I decided to find other people who were just as good as me. But the thing was, they weren't just as good as I was, they were better and ended up doing all the work themselves. It was at that moment that I realized I didn't want to win, I just wanted to have fun. That's the whole reason I started playing sports in the first place: to have fun, to stay physical, to experience the excitement of playing with others who were just as passionate about sports as I was. So, I apologized to my teammates and they accepted my apology. And while we did end up losing the next game I didn't care. You know why? Because I had fun doing it."

Cooper smiled. "I'm glad you realized that winning isn't everything. But right now, I'd say winning this battle against the greens is everything."

Lynn nodded "I get that. This isn't just some dumb game. It's real life, with real deadly consequences. Which why I plan to give it my all. That's another reason I started playing sports. To challenge myself. To achieve goals and make my family proud. That's why I originally became obsessed with winning when I was younger. I felt that if I lost. I'd let everyone down and become a failure. But I just wished I'd realized sooner that I didn't need to win anything and get a prize to prove myself. I'd already been given the best prize ever: A great family who'd always love me no matter what, and I don't plan on losing that. Not now. Not ever."

* * *

They'd finished gathering what they could and loaded it up. The sun had set, and the world was plunged into darkness.

"Do you think they're going to show up tonight" Gage asked Brock.

"Hopefully not. These things sleep. So, if we're lucky they'll decide to rest up before they reach us. Giving us plenty of time to set our traps."

Brock put the last of what he'd gone into the hardware store to get on the wagon and they set back off towards the middle school.

Luan was walking right next to Maggie.

"So, do you think you'll be able to set up these traps before the grown-ups arrive?" Maggie asked.

Luan looked at her and smiled.

"Don't question the master," she said. Which made Maggie smile.

Luna and Lynn were watching their sister talk to the girl whose pale face and dark clothes were quite a stark contrast to Luan's beaming face and colorful attitude.

"Quite the odd couple." Lynn remarked.

"Yeah," Luna agreed. "I guess it's true what they say: opposites attract _."_

"I think they're cute," Shade, who was walking a few feet behind them, said.

They soon reached the elementary school and saw that cars had been moved all over the place.

"When did all these cars move?" Ethan asked.

"I asked Duke to have a few kids move them around." Brock said.

"Why?"

Brock told them and they all nodded.

When they returned Brock made everyone do what Luan told them to do when it came to setting up the traps in the school while he and Gage set their own little traps around the cars outside.

Meanwhile Duke just stood around barking pointless orders trying his best not to sound scared.

Once they were all done Brock told a boy named Jacob, and a few others to head out in one direction where the Princess and her group would mostly appear from and a boy named Jim to keep an eye out in the other direction for when they spotted the other horde. He handed them both flare guns to fire when they spotted them.

They both nodded and headed off with their group.

Brock watched them both head off and then stood for a few seconds, enjoying the silence that mostly likely wouldn't last long. Then he headed back inside the school.

 **6\. The Princess IV**

The Princess and her army had reached the shopping plaza. It was dark, and everyone was tired. She wanted to press on, but she needed her beauty sleep. She wanted to look as beautiful as possible for when she and her army killed and devoured the prey she'd heard earlier. Her loyal subjects set her down and she soon drifted off to sleep. She dreamt of tearing children limb from limb and consuming every last bit of flesh that was attached to their delicious skin.

Sweet dreams.

 **7\. Christopher Savinski XI**

 _The next morning…_

Chris stood on the balcony of the mansion and admired his army in the early morning sunlight. There was well over a thousand of them. And they were all his.

His to order around. His to make do his dirty work. His to die for him.

He then looked at the ones that were almost as powerful as him. There was Crony, smiling his creepy smile. A huge one carrying a sledgehammer (he was glad he was on his side). A muscular shirtless one holding Bricks in both hands. And a tall greasy haired one wearing a mechanics uniform.

"All right, let's move out." Chris ordered pointing towards Royal Woods.

His army let out a ferocious roar and they began to march on towards the direction of the next town.

They flipped cars, knocked over street lamps, tore down wooden billboards. Everything that wasn't bolted to the ground was ripped up, pulverized and torn asunder as the army made their way out of Huntington Oaks and into Royal Woods.

They had soon reached the high school when Chris ordered his army to stop.

The football field of the high school looked like a bomb had dropped on it. Dead bodies, cars, and chunks of metal littered the field.

 _What do you think could have done this?_ Crony asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Chris said. "Kids. They're getting brave. Fighting back. We can't let that happen now, can we?"

Crony nodded.

Chris then looked at the large adult with the sledgehammer and an idea formed into his head.

He ordered the other grown-ups to arm up with what they could. And a lot of them began to pick up pieces and chunks of metal that could be used to strike, bludgeon or stab kids.

A few adults, however, were too weak to carry weapons.

"We should send the weaker ones to the front of the group," Chris told Crony. "Meanwhile you, me, that one with the sledgehammer, the one with the bricks and the greasy one will stay at the back of the group."

 _Good idea._ Crony told Chris. _We can't have anything happening to you now can we, if anything were to happen to you, me, or those other three this army would be confused and useless._

Chris furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

 _Us five are the only things that are giving this army a sense of order if anything were too happen to us they'd be useless and have no sense of direction. Like a car without a driver._

"Damn," Chris said, as he nodded his head and thought back to his younger days in college when him and his roommate would play Super Mega Brawlers Turbo Fighter and his roomie would pause the game to go to the bathroom and Chris would unpause the game and go to town on the poor defenseless character.

 _Looks like more people want to join us._ Crony told Chris. And he looked to see more adults exiting the school. A lot of them were teenagers and some looked like teachers. One of them was an older looking, casually dressed teacher with red hair, carrying a very fluffy pillow. What did he plan on doing with that?

"Excellent, Chris said. "The more the merrier."

He and Crony were about to continue on with the army when Crony spotted a weak, feeble looking teen emerging from the school, crawling.

 _Wait._ He implored Chris.

"What?"

 _That girl over there._ Crony pointed to a blonde teen who was trying to crawl over to them but was having a lot of trouble doing so.

"What about her?"

Crony didn't know what to tell Chris. For some reason he kind of felt sorry for this girl. She was wearing a light blue-green dress that was tattered and torn and stained with blood. As she got closer he could see that she had a broken leg. It's bone sticking out of it.

"She's no use to us. Leave her," Chris told him.

Crony hated the thought of this poor girl being forced to crawl everywhere while slowly rotting away.

 _Is it all right if I put her down?_ Crony asked.

"Fine. Whatever. Just hurry," Chris began to walk away as Crony took out a dagger. He then made his way towards the girl who was scowling yet had a pathetic look about her.

Crony then knelt in front of her and placed a hand under her chin to make her look at him. She had sky blue iris' that were surrounded by a sea of yellow sclera. He could tell that this girl must have beautiful before she was taken over. Oh well. Crony then lifted his knife and shoved it in the back of her head. He felt her body go limp, and watched the life instantly drain from her eyes. He then got up and followed Chris and his army. Leaving her body there to rot.

 **8.**

Back at the school Brock was waiting with a few others on the roof of the school. Ready to spring into action should Jacob or Jim fire their flares.

Duke was steadily Rocking back and forth on his faux throne in the auditorium. As soon as they were done setting traps he and Joey went back into the auditorium to rest up a bit. It wasn't until then that the gravity of the situation finally hit him, and he realized that he was scared out of his mind. So scared, that there was no way he would be able to go out there and fight these grown-ups.

Joey, however, just stood next to him, axe in hand. Not a care in the world.

Stan rested next to Mary who had her arms wrapped around her brother as they slept in the home economics room. They hadn't left each other's side since Stan got back and he never wanted to leave her side. She was the only thing that mattered to him anymore. The only thing that kept him calm and suppressed all the feelings of malice he had in his heart. He didn't want anything to happen to her and would do anything to protect her.

Meanwhile Speck sat in a chair a few feet away from them. His arms were folded, and his hammer lay on a table in front of him while his gun rested comfortably in his coat pocket. He was trying his best to stay awake, but his eyelids kept getting heavier and heavier and he had to keep jerking his head up whenever he drifted off.

A few hours later, Lincoln woke up in the gym surrounded by his sisters who were all still asleep. He looked at all their peaceful sleeping faces. It was the dawn of a new day. Everyone had been up all night preparing for the arrival of the adults. Lincoln was surprised that they still hadn't shown up. Maybe they were never going to show up. Maybe they were going to miss this school completely. Maybe everything was going to be all right.

Just then the doors to the gym swung open and a kid rushed in and began to yell.

"THEY'RE HERE!"

* * *

 **THE ENEMY IS HERE**

* * *

 _I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Especially the part with Luan and Maggie. And that part about how Luan first told a joke by trying to cheer Lincoln up I had trouble coming up with puns so I, personally, wasn't too happy with how that scene turned out. But, whatever. And I also decided to just make Luan be happy that Maggie likes her, simple as that.  
_

 _Anyway, I'm going to take some time with the next chapter. I want it to be the best chapter yet. (Not that I haven't been taking my time with all the other chapters. I just want it to be special since everything's been leading up to this.)_

 _So with that, I say: stay tuned for the final chapter of phase IV._


	13. The Clash

**Before I start the author's note, I'm going to address some of the reviews.**

 **Guest: Leni was actually hiding.**

 **Guest: I kind of agree that the Luaggie felt forced. It's just that before I started writing this story I wanted Luan and Maggie to be a pair. And I wanted it to happen before Chris and his army showed up at the school so I had to hurry and make it happen in that chapter.**

 **Guest: Sorry about that. I too wish Lori and Leni didn't have to suffer the fates that they did, but that's just how it had to be. After all, this story was based on a book series called _The Enemy_ where everyone over the age of 14 turns into zombie-like creatures. However, for my story I raised the age so that it affected people 16 and over just because I wanted Luna to be in charge of taking care of her siblings. I didn't feel like Luan was a good fit to be the oldest living sibling. Also, I just didn't feel like writing Lori or Leni's characters in this story. And I guess I could've done a better job in describing what Leni was thinking before she was killed. But then again, for all we know that thing was no longer Leni. As in, her mind was taken over completely by the disease.**

 **Guest: Thanks for pointing that out. Sometimes I forget what I write in previous chapters, but now I've decided that the greens can die of starvation, but it takes a long time for that to happen.**

* * *

 **11k views! WOO!  
I'm sorry this took so long to post. I just got overwhelmed with other things that I won't go into. Plus, this took a while to write. It is the longest chapter after all, with 27,000 words. (not including the text before and after the chapter)  
**

 **Also I've decided to change this stories rating to an M. It was originally rated T, but I changed it because I didn't plan on their being so much swearing when I first started writing this story. Also their _may_ be some sexual stuff in future chapters, but I won't focus too much on that stuff and it won't be too explicit if or when it happens.**

* * *

 ** _"I'm fighting and I'm winning and I'm living. The full package."_**

 ** _-_ Charlie Higson, ****The End: page 308 (Hardcover)**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **The Terror**

 **Chapter 5: The Clash**

 **1.**

 _Several Minutes before…_

Chris and his _lieutenants_ waited impatiently at the rear of the horde while several adults ransacked Royal Woods Middle School. They couldn't find anything. But Chris could sense that they were just there.

"They couldn't have gone far," he said, coldly. No matter where they were they weren't safe. Chris and his army would hunt them down to the ends of the Earth.

By the time the horde was done searching, it looked as though a tornado had passed through the school. The hoard had torn in apart. It wouldn't be safe to live in anymore. Hell, no where was safe as long as Chris and his army were on the move.

He then ordered his Army to march on and they followed his orders faithfully. Continuing to leave any car, building or structure that got in their way in a state of total ruin.

Meanwhile, on the other end of Royal Woods. The Princess and her loyal subjects were wide awake and back on the prowl. They searched high and low of every building they passed. No prey had been spotted yet, but they were close. She could feel it. She would find and devour all of them. At the end of the day she'd get what she wanted, just like she always did.

 **2.**

 _A few minutes before…_

At one end, several yards away from the elementary school, Jacob sat on the roof of a house he'd climbed up on and scanned the horizon. Every time he thought he caught movement in the corner of his eyes his heart felt like it was going to explode. He gripped the flare gun he was holding for dear life. Praying that he wouldn't need to use it.

Several hundred yards away from him and the other end of the school, a boy named Jim and a few others were on high alert. All the while he kept asking himself if all the kids at the elementary school would really be able to fend off over two thousand adults. After all, there only seemed to be a little less than two hundred kids, some of which were way too young to fight. He tried to do the math in his head. Less than two hundred kids going against well over two thousand adults. He didn't know the precise numbers, but the way he saw it each kid would have to kill about ten or more adults for them to stand a chance. Hopefully the guns would give them an advantage.

Meanwhile, Jacob was getting restless. The waiting and not knowing was worse than anything. When were they going to show up? How many would there actually be? He wiped sweat from his forehead and exhaled forcefully it took a few seconds to let out all the air he had stored up. The sound of his exhaling getting quieter. And when he was done exhaling he expected the sound to stop as well. But it didn't. There was still a sound lingering in the air. At first it sounded like it could have just been the wind. Then after a few seconds it reminded him of weak ocean waves. Then it reminded him of the sounds of the crowd from the football field where he and his family would go watch the Royal Woods Roosters play.

Suddenly he began to see something approaching in the distance a single dark mass. It reminded him of rising flood water. Engulfing anything that got in its way.

He swore and called down to his friends that had come with him to confirm what he was seeing. They hurried up and Jacob pointed towards the distance. His friends began to tremble when they saw it.

"That's way more than a thousand," one of them said.

"Fire the flare!" the other one shouted.

Jacob raised his flare gun and squeezed the trigger.

Jim was still looking out into the distance still wondering if he and the other kids would be able to fight when he heard at first what he thought was the wind but soon realized was a torrent of moans and hisses.

He turned towards the sound and saw them. Well over a thousand of adults storming right towards them. Before he could say anything one of his friends spoke.

"Oh shit," he said.

"I know. I see them too," Jim said, still looking at the approaching mass.

"Them?" his friend asked.

"Yeah, _them._ What do you think I-?" Jim paused when he saw why his friend originally swore.

Several yards away, beyond the other end of the school. A flare shot up into the sky. Meaning that Jacob had probably spotted the other group of grown-ups as well.

Now it was Jim who swore.

"This is it, I guess," he said as he raised the flare gun and fired.

 _Still a few minutes before…_

Brock still stood on the roof of the school. Next to him, was Aubrey. Her face showed way more emotion than his. She looked scared. He looked determined. That's what she loved about him. He was fearless and a leader, even though he was only fifteen he managed to take control of the situation and helped save so many kids at the middle school when this first began. She really wanted to reach out grab his hand. But now was not the time for any mushy crap. They had a job at hand. A big one. If they managed to come out this alive. There'd be plenty of time for her to get sappy later. Right now, she needed to focus on staying alive.

"Look!" A kid shouted pointing at the sky that was quickly illuminating from the rising sun. They could all see a flare soaring into the sky on one end.

Then another kid shouted and pointed at the other end. Another flare.

"What does this mean?" A kid asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Isn't it obvious?" Brock said. "Both hordes are arriving at the same time."

"Just our luck," another kid spoke.

Brock turned to the kid and told him to go to the gym and warn the others.

The kid nodded and ran into the school as Brock turned to address some other kids. The kid was down some stairs. Then he was running in the hallway, passing several classrooms. He was already sweating by the time he reached the gym and flung the doors open.

"They're here!" he shouted.

 **3.**

Lincolns entire body tensed up as he felt his sisters begin to raise their heads around him. The kid shouted again, and several kids began groan in perturbation. Nevertheless, they all began to stand up. They knew it was do or die time.

The kid began to shout orders. They set up a plan last night: anyone thirteen and older would grab a weapon and meet by the foyer of the school. While younger kids would have to hide in the largest custodial closet the school had.

Lincoln hurried over to his younger sisters. He picked Lily up and looked at his sisters: Lana and Lola were huddled against Luna, refusing to leave her side. Next to Luna was Luan, who had a terrified expression on her face, with another girl behind her like a cast shadow. Lincoln knew her name was Maggie and apparently she liked Luan. (Who could've guessed?) Lucy stood still, hugging her self tightly. Lynn, who held a bat propped against her shoulder put a hand on her younger sister in an attempt to comfort her. It did little to ease Lucy's nerves.

"Lincoln," Luna said. "Take the others to the closet."

Lincoln nodded and turned to Clyde who was standing right beside him like he always was. He was such a good friend.

"Can you give me a hand, buddy?" he asked.

"Sure thing, pal," Clyde responded.

Lincoln handed Lily to Lucy and he and his friend tried to pry the twins from their living oldest sister.

Once they did Lola began to scream.

"Please don't leave us!" Tears were streaming down her face. It broken Lincolns heart. It reminded her of how terrified she was at the beginning.

Luna knelt. "Don't worry, sis. I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. I plan on being here for a long time and I plan on you all being there with me." She turned to all her sisters with a grin on her face. "I'll survive. You'll survive. We'll all survive."

Lincoln looked around. Lana didn't look as upset as Lola, but she still looked scared. She had a look of determination on her face.

He then looked back at Luna and said, "See you later."

They all embraced each other and went their separate ways.

* * *

Stan was fully awake now. He, Mary and Speck had watched all the children hide in a closet as well as Mary's younger brother Matt. He didn't want Mary to leave, but she had to. Brock needed all hands on deck. They then ran to the foyer and Stan saw the older Loud siblings waiting their turns to be given guns. He gripped his mace tightly again but quickly looked away from them and grabbed Mary's hand. He looked into her eyes and she gave him a weary, yet hopeful smile.

In the auditorium Duke began to rock back and forth more frightfully now. He was on the verge of tears.

"Come on, man. What are you doing?" Joey said.

"I can't do it, Joseph," Duke cried. "I'm too scared."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Joey demanded.

"What do you think? I'm scared. I don't want to go out there. I don't want to die."

"Neither do I, but I'm still going out there to fight for my life and everyone else's." Joey was starting to lose his patience. "Now come on."

"No… I can't… I'm sorry," Duke lowered his head and turned away. As if to imply that this conversation was over.

Joey swore and ran out of the auditorium. Duke looked back as the doors closed. He was surrounded by dim light that was being cast by the candles. The flickering of the small flames cast dancing shadows on the walls. Duke was afraid that at any moment one of the shadows would morph into an adult and attack him. A minute later the doors swung open and Duke jumped. Joey was now running back to him.

"I knew you wouldn't leave me," Duke said, tearfully.

Joey then threw something at Duke and it hit him square of the chest and bounced off and hit the ground with a thud. It was a gun. A Glock to be exact.

"Oh… is this to protect myself?" Duke asked, as he picked it up.

"No," Joey said. "It's to kill yourself with.

Duke snapped his head at his friend. "What?"

"You heard me. If your too scared to fight, then you're as good as dead. So, go ahead and use it on yourself. To spare you the pain of being ripped apart." Joey turned and stormed out of the auditorium, axe in hand. Leaving a shocked Duke all by himself on his pretend throne.

* * *

Brock was back in the foyer of the school. Grant and his younger siblings were led up to him, still tied up. Brock decided to cut the ropes on their hands off.

"You don't still want to shoot me, do you?" He asked Grant as soon as he and the other were unbound.

"Probably not," Grant responded as he rubbed his wrists.

"Good enough for me," Brock watched the three of them each grab an automatic rifle and hurry out the school doors.

Stan was still with Mary waiting in line when Speck tapped him on the shoulder. He looked back and Speck leaned in to whisper something to him.

"I've been thinking Stan, and I've decided to go on my own little mission. It's a long shot, but it just might work."

Stan raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about."

"I'm talking about putting an end to that army that we saw back in Huntington Oaks once and for all. If I don't see you again, I just wanted you to know that even though I haven't known you for very long. You're a good friend."

Stan didn't know what to say. Speck then patted him on the shoulders and ran down the foyer and out the door of the school. Stan called after him, but he was gone. He would've run after him, but he didn't want to lose his spot in line. Plus, he had to stay close to Mary.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Speck."

Soon, all the kids were out in the front of the school, weapons in hand. A lot of them had never even held guns before, let alone fired one at something. The morning sun was rising higher and higher in the east. As if it were trying to get a front row seat to witness the battle that was about to take place.

There were two rows facing in different directions. One direction was where the army that Stan and Speck had spotted was coming from and the other was where The Princess and her army was going to come from. Brock was next to the group where the Loud sisters and a lot of kids from the schools were facing. While Ethan and his group from Indiana faced the direction where the princess would come from.

The gun felt heavy in Luna's hand. She didn't know what the gun she was holding was called but she knew that a lot of people called it an _assault rifle_ and that it was used in the military. She'd seen it in more movies than she could remember. Next to her stood Luan, holding another rifle that looked familiar; It was probably an AK-47. Next to Luan was Lynn holding a smaller gun; It was some king of submachine gun.

As soon as everyone was lined up Brock stood on a parked car and began to address everyone. Sunlight was pouring down on him like a spotlight, revealing a firm, battle ready face.

"This is it!" His voice boomed through the morning air. "This is the moment that will decide our futures. We must conquer our fears and defeat these adults. Don't just do it for your own sake, or mine, but for theirs as well." He pointed towards the school. Acknowledging all the kids that still dwelled inside. "We're the last thing standing between them and certain death. If we die, they die too, and so does the hope for a future for the great town of Royal Woods."

Luna thought of her younger siblings, cowering inside. Unsure of whether their older siblings were going to make it out of this battle alive. She tightened her grip on her gun and took a quick glance at Luan and Lynn. There was no way any of them were going to die. Not if she had anything to say about it.

"We have dreams. Dreams of hope. Dreams of prosperity. Dreams of wishes yet to come true. I refuse to let these things take them away. Does anyone have anything they want to accomplish or wish they'd done in their life before the blast."

It was quiet for a few seconds. Everyone was too petrified to speak. Then, a lone, monotonous voice filled the silent void.

"I wish I'd told my mom that I loved her more often."

Everyone looked towards where the voice had come from to see Maggie standing with her shoulders slumped. The rifle she was holding to her side, facing down. Her face was set in an emotionless, uncaring expression but her eyes and voice betrayed her.

"My mom always tried her best to make me happy, but I never showed any kind of appreciation- or any emotion for that matter. I always put up an uncaring front. But the truth was: I loved my mom. I really did. I just thought there'd be time for me to tell her that I loved her and appreciated everything she'd ever done for me." Lone tear drops were racing down her pale cheeks now.

Luan put a hand on Maggie's shoulder and then spoke up too. "I really wanted to become a world-famous comedian. I want to make people laugh and be happy. To forget about how screwed up the world can be sometimes."

There were murmurs amongst the crowd of children and then another voice rose up. This time it was Lynn's

"I wish I could've completed my _FLIBBR_." There were a lot of confused faces throughout the crowd. There was no time for Lynn to explain what FLIBBR meant. "What I mean is- I wanted to become the best athlete in the world. I always pushed myself to do better. Good enough was never good enough when it came to me being the best _me_ I could be. I wanted to be the best. I wanted to be number one. I wanted to be a champion. The thing is, what I did before this probably doesn't matter much anymore. What matters the most right now is overcoming our fears and beating this thing."

Everyone continued to look at Lynn when Luna spoke up.

"I really wanted to be a famous musician before all of this," she said. "I wanted to create music. I wanted to travel the world. I wanted to marry Mick Swagger. But most importantly, I wanted to make people feel the same way I felt when _I_ listened to music. To make them feel the same euphoria and joy. I wanted to make people dance and bang their heads and get excited. I was always happiest when I was on stage. However, today we're all on stage. The question is: what will you be doing when the curtain rises, and what will we be doing when it falls? Living or dying? I'll tell you what I'll be doing- I'll be living. Living to play another day."

There were even more excited murmurs among the crowd.

Another kid spoke up now. It was Cooper.

"I wanted to be an athlete, too. More specifically a basketball player. I always looked up to other basketball players. I always told my self that someday kids will look up to me too. But that's not going to happen if I don't make it through this. Which is why I don't plan on dying today neither." He looked at Lynn and they both smiled after he said that.

"I wanted to be a racecar driver," Ethan spoke now. "I wanted to compete in the Indy 500. My home states pride and joy. I probably won't be able to do that now. But I would like to go back to Indianapolis someday. Only death itself would be able to stop me from doing that."

"I wanted to be a forest ranger," said Tom. "I wanted to teach people all about the outdoors like my dad did with me. I wanted to visit Yellowstone national park. Only problem is- it's probably like a thousand miles away. So, I won't be able to go there anytime soon. But that doesn't mean I can't dream of it.

"I wanted to make movies," Shade said. "Nothing too serious. Just movies that a bunch of buddies can watch and get high to. B movie type stuff."

"I wish I would've watched more movies," It was Randy who said this. Several kids began to laugh.

"I'm serious," he pressed.

"I wish my dad would've accepted me for who I am," Joey spoke up now and several kids looked at him. He held his axe firmly. "He never ever said anything positive about. He'd always put me down. Tell me I was worthless and useless. Well, I don't plan on being useless today. Today I'm going to show the whole world what I'm capable of. And then we can all start a new world. A world without hate and prejudice. A world where we can all get along. And I intend on seeing that world shape up no matter what."

Several kids began to say what they planned on doing before the world went to shit and what they planned on doing if they ever got out of this. From simple things like: getting a pet, buying a car, telling their crush that they liked them. To more important things like: getting a job, traveling to a faraway place, and starting a family.

Mary leaned towards Stan. "Do you have any dreams?"

"Staying alive," he told her. _And maybe kissing you_ , he thought to himself.

Brock spoke up again. "Great! Keep those thoughts in mind when fighting. Fighting for your lives. Who you love. And the lives of every kid who has fallen to these monsters. Believe in yourself and the person standing to next to you and fight like hell."

The crowd of kids roared to life. The sounds of their cheering were quickly replaced by the sounds of the approaching greens. Everyone took aim. The sounds of the approaching adults reminded the Loud sisters of the time there was a tornado warning and the storm loomed over their house creating a sound unlike anything else they'd ever heard. As the sound grew louder a new goal came to their minds: Someday they would return to their home.

The first line of greens began to emerge on the horizon. Both hordes appeared at the exact same time. Several kids began to groan, swear and shiver. They all kept hoping that at any moment the last of the greens would appear, but they just kept coming.

One kid began to shake his head and started to back away, but Joey was right behind him.

"What's the matter? You don't plan on living forever, do you?"

The kid rapidly shook his head.

"Good," Joey told him. "Because no one lives forever even if you live today you'll just end up dying eventually. Everyone does." He then turned to address the crowd. "Listen up everyone! You can die fighting. You can die standing. You can even die lying down. But _nobody_ is going to die running." With that he marched the kid back to the line and gripped his axe tightly. He didn't need a gun.

"I won't back down," Luna kept repeating to herself as the army grew closer.

The sight of the approaching mass caused Luan to utter the only words she could think of: "Shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, tits."

Lynn was awestruck at the size of the crowd. She suddenly remembered that she was so focused on the approaching horde. That she'd forgotten all about her silly little superstitious rituals she always did before any sporting event. Not that it mattered. They didn't need luck to beat this army, they needed a miracle.

"Hail Mary," she said to herself.

Meanwhile, on one end of the line, a quote popped into Shade Walker's head and he decided to say it out loud. "We're gonna need a bigger boat," he looked around at other kids, hoping they'd acknowledge his clever use of that line, but was met with blank stares instead. He realized his mistake. "Sorry, what I meant to say was: _you're_ gonna need a bigger boat."

"Wouldn't that make more sense if we were in a boat?" one kid finally pointed out.

Shade shrugged his shoulders. "Come on, now. I've been waiting for a chance you use that line my entire life. Don't ruin this moment for me."

A lot of kids shook their heads and just went back to aiming their guns.

The more greens that appeared. The more nervous the kids got. They wanted to hurry up and start shooting but Brock ordered everyone not to shoot until he said so.

At the other line of kids Ethan waited for Brocks signal while the Princess' army marched closer. He was wielding an AR-15 and scanning the crowd for The Princess. She must have been at the very back of the horde like the brat she was. Making all these adults do her dirty work. He was going to make sure that today was her last day on Earth.

"Hold," Brock told everyone with his hand raised.

The sound of the greens shuffling, and raspy breaths became unbearable.

"I love you all so much," One kid said to everyone around him.

"Hold."

The stench of the greens was appalling.

"Looks like I picked a bad day to stop smoking," another kid said

"Hold."

The sight of the greens was terrifying.

"Remember, no Russian," Shade said to himself as he looked at the massive horde of greens through iron sight of his automatic rifle, reminding him of his favorite Call of Duty mission.

"Fire!" Brock yelled.

 **4.**

Speck was surrounded by darkness. A flashlight provided the only illumination in the underground labyrinth that was the sewers beneath the streets of Royal Woods. He walked in the direction that would most likely lead to the back of the horde that he and Stan had spotted. He could hear the army marching above as well as hear them through the occasional storm drain. The dark mass of bodies prevented sunlight from shining through the gaps to chase the shadows away. Speck was hurrying as fast as he could. He kept patting his jacket to make sure his gun was still tucked safely away. Other than that, all he had was the hammer he was so fond of, a knife and the flashlight that scanned through the darkness. As the sound of scrapping and shuffling feet resonated through the damp air from the street above.

Speck watched his step. It would suck if he accidentally fell into the dirty sewer water that strode beside the concrete walkway that he was hurrying down. He also knew that there was a possibility that an adult could rise from the water and drag him into the depths like a hungry alligator. Stan had told him that something like that had happened when he and a few other kids were wandering through these exact tunnels.

 _Just focus on the main goal._ He kept telling himself. Focus on getting behind enemy lines and scoping out the grown-up- or grown-ups- that could be behind all of this. That's how it worked, right? The grunts stood in the front lines while the generals- or whatever stood at the back, away from the firefights and ordered their underling around.

If his hunch was correct then this was all going to end today. All he had to do was deliver the fatal blow.

 **5.**

Lana knew what she had to do. She was ashamed at herself for doing what she was about to do. Several kids had died because of her desire to kill Grease Monkey. But she knew if she didn't do something. Everyone was going to die anyway.

Presently she, Lincoln, Lucy, Lola, Lily and their dog Charles were hiding in a closet with several other kids. Including Clyde, Penelope, Grace and several other young kids.

She was holding a screwdriver in her hand. One that could unscrew the air vent on the wall where she had hidden a bow and plenty of arrows she'd stolen from Tom- she remembered as they were leaving the gym she heard Tom ask someone where his bow and arrows were to which someone else responded by saying, 'who needs a bow and arrow when we have guns and bullets.'- She was planning on sneaking into the vent and crawling up to the roof of the school to look for Grease Monkey, so she could shoot him and put him down once and for all.

It was quiet. She needed something to distract her siblings. Lincoln held Lily who was asleep but stirring in his arms. Everyone was focused on the door to the closet. Afraid that at any moment it would swing open and grown-ups- parents and teachers- would storm in and kill them all.

Lana apologized to Lily in her mind and reached over and pinched her baby sister without anyone noticing. Lily began to cry which caused everyone to turn their attention to her and Lincoln. Several of the kids around Lincoln's age began to whisper harshly at him to shut Lily up, while some of the younger kids began to whimper. Lincoln tried desperately to shush Lily as he rocked her in his arms. He even tried to sing that _Fenton the Feel-Better Fox_ song. Which earned him more invectives from the small crowd.

Now was Lana's chance. She had already unscrewed three of the screws except one on one of the top corners. She was able to slide it to one side and slipped away without anyone noticing.

If Grease Monkey was still alive, then Lana was going to kill him herself.

 **6.**

Everyone's ears were ringing harder than they ever had before as they continued to pull the triggers of their guns. They were surprised that blood wasn't pouring out of their earholes. Gun smoke filled everyone's nostrils as bodies fell in front of them. The greens never stood a chance against the barrage of bullets. There may have been a lot of them, but there were more bullets than bodies.

At the back of the horde Chris was staggered by the realization that these kids were heavily armed.

"What the fuck! They have guns?" He looked at Crony who just stood unfazed by the realization.

 _They're only delaying the inevitable. They'll run out of ammo eventually. We will win this. We will slaughter them all._

Chris swallowed and nodded. These were kids they were talking about. Did they think a couple of guns could take out an army this big? They were in for a rude awakening.

Still, Chris decided to hang out at the back of his army like he always did.

Luna and her sisters ran out of ammo just as the first wave of greens were defeated. There were no injuries, but there was no telling how long that would last as she and everyone else reloaded their weapons with trembling hands. The magazine that was currently in her gun was taped to another one. Brock said they were like that, so everyone could reload faster.

A few remaining greens from the first wave were still advancing towards the line of kids. A lot of them had to beat them back with the butts of their rifles Luckily the greens were already in bad shape, so they went down easily.

Luna's heart was beating faster than it ever had before. She looked to her sisters who were reloading their weapons as well. Lynn was having no trouble at all. Luan, however, was struggling. Luckily, she had Maggie who patiently helped her put in a fresh magazine.

Behind them Ethan and his group were still taking on The Princess' group who, unlike the other army of adults, was advancing as a single unit. There weren't as many as the other army though. However, this group was more determined, as if they were trying to prove themselves to The Princess. Luckily, they were able to keep her subjects at bay.

As the kids from Royal Woods continued to reload. Many of them began to shout at the pile of dead greens.

"How do you like that?"

"Is that all you got?"

"They're even uglier when they're dead!"

Their boastful attitudes were short lived as more greens approached. The next wave looked stronger, healthier and more agile.

"Not more of them!" someone cried.

"You want more!" Lynn shouted at the adults.

"Once more, with feeling," Joey said.

Everyone aimed down the sights again. Bracing for the loud noise that was undoubtably about to echo throughout the town of Royal Woods again.

Luna took a deep breath. _Remember what you're fighting for_ ,she told herself.

"Fire!" Brock shouted again. And the road in front of Royal Woods Elementary lit up yet again.

Bodies continued to fall just like before. Only this time the greens that filled the space of their fallen comrades were faster. They were filling the gap between the two groups quicker than the kids were comfortable with. Then the moment they all feared came true: An adult male reached the front of the line and set his sights on a kid who had run out of ammo.

"Oh, God! oh God! OH GOD!" the kid cried. He tried to swat at the adult with the rifle, but the adult blocked the hit and bit down on the kids arm and knocked him down.

The kids next to him tried to help but Joey beat them to it. Ending the greens miserable life with one swing of the pick end of his axe. He pulled the adult off the kid who was now crying and turned to the kids standing next to him.

"Take him inside to Sanjay and then get your asses right back here!"

The two boys nodded and did as they were told. Joey then turned back to the army. The second wave was thinning, but still coming strong. Worst of all they were all going to run out of ammo. Which meant they'd have to fight the next wave with their melee weapons, not that it bothered him; he knew his way around his axe. He wasn't so sure if the other kids would fare as well as him though. They should have saved the guns for the stronger greens. Oh well, no doubt this battle would separate the survivors from the victims.

 **7.**

Speck was almost positive that he was behind the massive hoard, now. All he had to do was find a way out. He shone his light up at the walls around the ceiling of the sewer and tried to focus on finding some hinges he could maybe use to climb and escape this underground web of human waste. He was too focused, however. He didn't notice the shape making its way toward him from the water until it was too late.

Speck gasped as the hand wrapped its grimy fingers around his ankles.

He swore at himself for being careless and stomped on the wrist of the unseen figure hidden below the murky sewage. It let go and he stumbled backwards.

He quickly regained his composure and tried to flee but ending up running right into the chest of another adult, a male, that had been drawn to him by the commotion. Speck tried his best not to scream as the adult clamped its grubby hands around his shoulders and opened his mouth. Speck panicked and shoved the head of his hammer into the man's mouth. He bit down hard and began to shake his head back and forth like a dog would do with his favorite chew toy. Speck pulled as hard as he could and pried the hammer from the grown-up's mouth, as well as a few teeth. He was about to swing the hammer back at the man but the adult from before, now out of the water, latched onto his arm and tried to take a bite out of him. Speck screamed and pulled as hard as he could. The adult wouldn't let go. He looked to be a bald male and was covered in muck, gunk and grime. He reminded Speck of Tarman from Return of The Living Dead.

Speck dropped the flashlight and reached into his coat pocket for a knife, No way he was going to take out his gun and waste any of his precious ammo on these assholes.

He pulled out a switchblade knife and slashed at Tarman's wrist, cutting deeply. Making it easier to pull away from him. He finally pulled away and quickly swung the hammer, slamming the face of the tool right between the adult's eyes. He stammered backwards, and Speck spun on his heels and delivered a lethal blow to Tarman's head. It was like smashing a rotten pumpkin. Tarman's skull offered no protection and he was out like a like light. Speck shoved him, and he fell back into the water with a heavy splash. Speck spun again and hit the other adult in the same spot again and now he too, was turned off forever.

Speck shoved him into the water as well and watched for the briefest of moment as the current carried both bodies away to God knows where.

He picked the flashlight back up and dusted himself off.

Nothing was going to stop him. Not even… more grown-ups?

Speck swore as more greens began to emerge from the darkness. The direction he'd just come from.

He turned and bolted. Praying that all the grown-ups he'd encounter were far behind him and not hiding around a corner waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

 **8.**

The last of the ammo was spent as the last few bodies fell.

"Shit! I'm out!" someone announced.

"Me too!" another kid cried out as others proclaimed that they were dry as well.

Several kids began to groan and moan.

"What are we going to do?"

"Don't lose hope," Brock shouted. "We're not finished yet." Only a few kids were injured by the previous wave and Ethan and his group were now out of ammo as well.

"We'll have to use our melee weapons, now," Aubrey declared, and several kids rushed to a wagon that had been brought out that held all the melee weapons.

The three oldest Loud sisters chose their weapons. Luna chose her preferred weapon: an axe. Luan decided on a spike club. Lynn chose an iron club that was shaped like a baseball bat with spikes.

The third wave would begin to approach any second, now. They all hoped that it would be the final onslaught. There was no way it would be as easy as when they used the guns. This was going to be up close and personal.

"Ethan, how ya holding up?" Brock shouted at the boy in the Colts jersey.

"As well as can be expected," he shouted back. Surprisingly no one from his group was injured.

The kids from Royal Woods had been so focused on the larger horde, they'd forgotten all about Ethan and his group. Luckily, they were tough kids. The Princess' army was being cut down left and right. But without guns. The real challenge was about to being.

 **9.**

Silence. It was music to Chris' ears. The stupid kids had run out of ammo for their stupid guns. He looked out and studied the cold hard faces of what was left of his army. Still way over a hundred. Plenty enough to do the job. Those kids were at his mercy just like every other group he'd attacked. And he would offer them no mercy at all just like he had over the last month. He'd kill these kids. Devour them, and then storm the school and devour the kids who hid inside like the scared little brats they were. Not only that, Crony had told him that there was another group of adults at the opposite end of the school. Which meant more adults to help him rebuild his army. Everything was coming up Chris.

He then looked at the strongest adults of the bunch- besides him and Crony: The adult with the sledgehammer, the greasy haired one wearing a mechanic uniform and the one who always carried around bricks.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Kill them all!" he shouted.

The adults howled and began their march towards the school. While Chris laughed manically just like did on the day the world became his.

 **10.**

Lana Loud was crawling as fast as she could, bow in hand- the same bow Tom used to kill Lori. Lana quickly shook that thought out of her mind and focused solely on _him._ She could feel his presence. Grease Monkey was near, no doubt about it. Her heart began to beat faster the closer she got to where she was heading. She knew her way around the school vents just as much as Lucy did. She was a handyman and had studied the schematics to the school and knew where every twist and turn led. She knew that Lincoln would find out she was missing and panic, but that was something she was going to deal with once this was over. Right now, she was more worried about getting rid of the specter that haunted her and her dreams.

 _I'm coming for you, Grease Monkey._

Lincoln had finally gotten Lily to calm down. Everyone breathed sighs of relief. Lincoln wondered why she began to cry, but figured she was just scared. They all were. He lifted his arms and brought his sisters close. As long as his heart was still beating he wasn't going to let anything happen to Lily, Lola, Lucy, or…Lana?

"Lana?" Lincoln said, a bit too loudly. Other kids shushed him as he began to look around frantically. Now his younger sisters were looking around as well.

"Lana?" Lola cried.

"Shut the fuck up," a voice said a little too loud, which caused some of other younger kids to gasp, while others shushed him, which made others shush the shushers.

Lincoln didn't pay any mind to the voice, but his subconscious picked it up as Chandler's voice.

An older kid who was standing guards in front of the door from the outside banged on it. "Be quiet. You're all being too loud."

"Help," Lincoln cried.

The door swung open. "What is it?" The boy standing guard asked. From what Lincoln heard, the boy's name was Todd.

"I can't find my sister!"

"What do you mean you can't find her? There's no where she could've gone."

"That's where you're wrong," a quiet voice said. Everyone turned to see Lucy standing by a vent, holding it open.

Lincoln swore, which made the younger kids gasp again. He then turned to Clyde and handed Lily to him.

"Here, hold Lily." He told his friend and then dove into the vent after Lana.

"Lincoln!" Lola and Lucy cried, and dove into the vent after him.

"Hey!" Todd cried and ran up to the vent, but Lincoln and sisters were too far gone, and he couldn't fit in the vent to go after them.

"What the heck is going on?" he turned to the kids and asked.

There was no way Clyde was going to let Lincoln go after Lana alone. He had to distract the teen.

"Someone must've gotten into the tools and unscrewed the vent." Clyde pointed in a random direction of the room.

"What tools?" The teen asked and made his way to a corner of a room.

Clyde then turned to Penelope and told her to watch Lily. Penelope was so dumbfounded that she took Lily without really thinking. Then Clyde hurried towards the vent and dove into it as well.

"Hey!" Todd cried again. But Clyde was gone now too. Todd put a hand on his forehead. "Damn, I fucking suck at guarding kids." His use of the F word earned him some gasps from the younger kids as well.

 **11.**

Duke was still sitting on his fake throne in the dimly lit auditorium. He was sweating and shaking like a frail leaf blowing in the wind.

Why did he have to be such a coward? His cowardice had gotten several people killed. Even his own sister. He imagined all the kids outside dying just like she did: scared and alone. Crying out for someone to help them. He couldn't be expected to save all of them, but being the leader that he claimed he was, he should've been doing something. Not hiding all by himself in the safety of the school. But he was just too scared. Why did he have to be so scared?

What would his parents say? What would his sister say?

 _It's okay Duke. Everything's going to be okay._

"Who said that?" Duke asked out loud. He looked to see his family standing before him. All smiling.

Duke began to tear up. "No, it's not," he said. "I'm too scared, and my fear is getting everyone killed just like it got you killed." He pointed at his sister, Beth, who was just as small and fragile as she was when he last saw her.

She stepped up and hugged him.

 _It's not too late,_ Duke's father told him. _You still have time to show everyone how brave you really are._

"I'm not brave, I'm scared," Duke told him.

 _I know, but you can't let your fear keep you from doing what's right. That's what bravery means: doing something even when you're scared._

Duke looked down at his sister who was looking up at him, smiling.

"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you," he told her.

 _I know you are,_ she told him. _And I forgive you._

Those words gave Duke the boost of confidence that he needed. He suddenly felt braver than he ever had before.

 _We love you, son_ , his dad told him and then they all faded away before his very eyes.

"I love you, too," Duke said. And then he picked up his spear and gripped it and the gun Joey had given him, tightly and ran as fast as he could out of the auditorium.

 **12.**

The final wave had arrived. It included the biggest and the baddest; the strongest and the fastest.

There were, however, still quite a few weaker, feeble looking greens. No doubt they were there to be used as cannon fodder like the waves before them.

Several kids were swearing and talking rapidly.

"Bloody bastards!" one kid angrily yelled.

"Have we tried reasoning with them?" one kid jokingly asked.

"Kick them in their balls, nuts, crotch!" another kid yelled.

"Don't give up hope!" Brock shouted, we may have used up all our ammo, but we still have a few tricks up our sleeves. Just stay away from the cars.

 _The cars? What the heck is he talking about?_ Luna wondered. But realized that that was the least of her worries. The final wave of Greens was ready to strike. Luna gripped her axe tightly and glanced over to her sisters who were doing the same with their weapons. She quickly scanned the crowd to set her sights on a target.

The gap was getting smaller again and Brock yelled at the kids to charge and they did just that. They were all struck with a sudden jolt of courage. Just beat this wave, and it's all over.

Luna raised her axe and brought it down on the head of an adult male who was carrying a bent piece of metal. The impact reverberated up her arm, but she was too filled with adrenaline to notice. Another green quickly filled its space only to be cut down as well. Then another one approached only to chopped down like a tree being hacked at by a mad lumberjack. Her clothes were beginning to get stained with blood and blood was dripping down her face now- luckily it wasn't hers. Not that she would've noticed if it was, she was lost in battle as her Axe rose and fell on all the skulls of grown-ups.

"Die motherfucker! Die motherfucker! Die!" she didn't realize she was saying this out loud. But she did realize that her arms were already getting tired and sore. She was also aware of a few kids beside her cutting away just like she was.

She quickly stepped away to give her arms a break. She was about to glace over to her other siblings when one the kids beside her, a boy who looked a little bit younger than her, was stabbed in the neck by a green wielding a jagged piece of metal. The boy next to him cried out as he was splattered by blood that sprayed out the of the boys wound like a sprinkler.

Luna swore and rushed over to help. The wounded kid was dragged away by other, weaker looking greens who ripped him open like a birthday present. Luna reached the adult who had looked away for only a second. He turned, and Luna cut him down before he even realized she was there. These adults may have been the fastest. But the kids were still faster, and that gave them a slight advantage. Luna then turned to the other kid who was sprayed with blood and he was now being attacked by a tough looking green who looked like the stereotypical truck driver: heavily built, long beard; wearing a red flannel shirt, blue jeans and a mesh cap.

His fingers were planted in the kid's mouth, against the roof and the bottom, and he was pulling as if he was trying to rip the kids jaw open. The boy was screaming and crying, tears were washing the blood off his bloodstained cheeks.

Luna had to help. She rushed over and chopped down on the green, the head of the axe hit him in his neck and he loosened his grip on the boy and the kid dropped to the ground. Unfortunately, the blow wasn't fatal and the trucker- at least that's what she assumed he was before he went nuts and started trying to rip kids mouths open like King Kong- struck her with a closed fist.

A bright flash filled Luna's vision and a wave of pain traveled through her head. Then she was on her back facing the peaceful blue sky. A stark contrast the bright red blood that covered the earth beneath it. She quickly came to her senses and fought the pain as she lifted her head up to see the trucker removing the axe from his neck, ignoring the blood that dribbled down his shoulder. Luna's eyes then traveled to the kid she'd saved whose jaw was dangling as if it had been dislocated. He was trying to crawl away, but he didn't get far because he too, was dragged away into the mass of greens undoubtably to suffer the same fate as his friend.

So much for saving him.

Luna turned her attention back to the trucker who was now marching right at her with the axe held tightly in his huge hands.

Luna's eyes darted frantically around for her sisters, but they were no where in sight. She tried to call out for help, but all that escaped her mouth was a quiet whimper.

The trucker raised the axe and Luna was too scared to even look away. Then, a flash of metal and the color of teal appeared in the corner of her vision and the trucker dropped the axe. As blood began to drool out of his mouth.

Luna then noticed a streak of silver traveling through his neck and then it slid away, and he fell forward. Luna shuffled away and then turned her direction towards the blue streak. Her heart filled with joy as she saw Sam standing before her wielding a Katana. A blazing fire filled her eyes. She looked just like how she'd look whenever she was on stage doing a gnarly guitar riff.

She then turned to Luna and offered her a hand. Luna took it without hesitation.

"Thanks," she said, "That was sick."

"No problem," Sam replied. "Just call me Sam the Samurai.

Luna wanted to blush and giggle like a dork, but then she quickly remembered that they were in the middle of a fucking war. She hurried over and picked up her axe. She had forgotten all about the pain that throbbed from being punched. She was filled with a new energy. She looked at Sam and they both nodded and charged the army of grown-ups.

This was no time to be timid. Luan Loud was a girl with a bubbly, upbeat personality. At least that's what she wanted people to think. Right now, she was more scared than she'd ever been. Even at the beginning when she was running from the adults at the high school. At least then she could run away. Now, she couldn't run away. She had to fight. Lives were on the line.

Even if she did run away, where would she go? Was there any place that was safer than being surrounded by people who care about you and are willing to fight by your side? Not that she _would_ run away; she would never abandon her siblings. She hated to think about life without her siblings, but she at least had to ask herself: What if they didn't exist? What would she do? She'd be miserable no doubt. She loved having siblings. They were always there for her and would do anything to make her happy: Like put up with her April Fool's pranks and silly puns.

She knew they loved seeing her happy because once when she overheard her siblings talk about how much they couldn't stand her puns she decided to give up comedy. And when they found out they did everything they could to try and get her to make puns again. Lincoln even went on stage at the Chortle Portal to tell some of her jokes but ended up making a fool of himself.

Her siblings were a gift. They were precious to her because without them she'd have not outlet, no way to hide her pain and fear of being alone and friendless behind her pranks. She loved them and was willing to face her fears and risk dying right here, right now if it meant keeping them safe.

The thought of fighting to protect them gave her the confidence she desperately needed to fight this horde. She gripped her spike club. She was aware of Maggie right beside her. She was dual wielding a pair a large bowie knives. She twirled them both in her hands as some greens approached. It was kind of impressive. She didn't look afraid. But there was no way she wasn't.

Luan looked around for her siblings, but they were no where in sight. She just had to hope that they were okay. It was her and Maggie as well as a few other random kids. Several of which were taking it to the adults. But the adults were still a force to be reckoned with.

Maggie suddenly sprang at a scrawny adult woman who got to close, stabbing her in the eye. The lady didn't know what hit her. She then continued to slash away at even more adults who closed in on her. The knives were dancing and filling the air with a red mist of blood.

Luan was so transfixed by the sight that she didn't notice an adult male who had his sights set on her. She felt a set of hands wrap around her left arm and then they tried to drag her away. She screamed and turned her head in the direction she was being pulled and a somewhat fat, bald man with a droopy, wrinkly face was trying to drag her into the mass of greens where she would no doubt be ripped apart.

Luan struggled against the man and beat at him with her mace. But she couldn't get a good hit on him. Maggie was on the man in a second and stabbed him in the back of the head, killing him instantly. Luan fell backwards, and Maggie stood in front of her as if to protect her. Her head was darting back and forth as if she was scanning for any more adults who'd be foolish enough to attack her, lest they be cut to ribbons.

Apparently, one of them was. A shirtless adult male who was wearing boxing shorts and boots tackled Maggie to the ground. Maggie fought desperately to get the grown-up off her, but he was too strong. He kept trying to bite her, but she kept bobbing her head left and right to avoid his teeth.

Luan just sat there, stunned. Maggie had an angry, yet panic-stricken look on her face as she gave it her all to hold the adult away.

"Luan, help," She finally managed to say which snapped Luan out of her stupor. The sheer panic and desperation in Maggie's voice gave her a sudden jolt of courage and she sprang up, grabbed her mace and charged the adult. She brought her mace down with every once of strength and it hit the adult in the back of the head and he went limp.

Maggie quickly shoved the adult off her and he lay there sprawled out on his back. Luan studied the adult as Maggie got to her feet. The adult was wiry and tough looking, The only thing that stood out about him- besides his boxing attire- was his hair: he was bald on the top of his head but had thick, bushy, curly hair all around the sides and back of his head. He looked just like Larry Fine from the Three Stooges. That realization suddenly made Luan want to burst out laughing. But she quickly stowed her amusement and turned to Maggie.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah," the dark-haired girl answered. "You?"

"I'm fine," Luan answered, and a thought popped into her head. She turned to dead green and pointed at him with her mace. "He, however, is not _fine."_

Luan then laughed harder than she had in the past month. Maggie raised an eyebrow. Luan was wondering if she thought that she'd finally cracked.

Luan then raised her mace "Come on, let's go _mace_ these greens up!"

A look of delight filled Maggie's eyes. Could Luan finally be back to her old self?

Lynn was exhorting herself more than she ever had before. The iron club was breaking bones and cracking skulls left and right. If these greens could be afraid. They'd probably be scared shitless of the little jock. But they knew no fear. They only knew to kill, maim and feed.

Lynn was aware of Cooper and some other kids next to her giving her a lot of space. Getting hit by her iron club would probably be worse than being devoured by the mob of greens.

Lynn's body was screaming for her to take it easy, but she ignored it. She'll take it easy when she's dead.

She wasn't sure how many greens she'd killed at this point, but if this wave was anything like the last two, she'd still have a way to go. She knew she couldn't keep this up forever, but she refused to stop. Stopping would be like admitting defeat, and Lynn Loud Jr. was no quitter. To die was to lose, and to stop was to quit. And she'd rather lose than quit.

Her long-sleeve baseball shirt was stained red with the blood of her fallen foes. It was no longer white and the number _one_ on the front was no longer visible. Before today, that number one meant that she was number one. But now, it signified her desire to be the last one standing. Not that she wanted anyone else to die, especially her siblings. Her vision was of her standing amongst the thousands of dead bodies while her family was hidden safely away, someplace far away from this nightmare. She was going to protect her family no matter what. And if that meant she'd have to kill every last one of these greens, she'd gladly stand here day and night swinging away at the ever-increasing presence of bodies.

She was a machine; her body was moving faster than her brain. Anything green that filled her line of sight was immediately struck down.

Then, an adult with a big green head came storming right at her. She held her club back and then swung as hard as she could, expecting the head to splatter like a tomato. But it didn't. Instead, the club bounced off the head and sent a spasm of pain coursing up her entire arm.

She swore loudly and stumbled backwards, trying to make sense of what just happened. She quickly realized that the thing she'd hit wasn't a head- it was a helmet. A football helmet to be exact. It was same shade of green as the skin of the diseased teenager who wore it.

Lynn swore, and her eyes darted from side to side. She saw other kids dealing with countless other greens, so she'd have to deal with this one herself.

The green charged her again and Lynn quickly pondered what she should do- run or fight? She kicked herself for even considering running away, but at the same time, she wouldn't be running away to hide, she'd just be running until she could figure out how to deal with this green.

The green was right on top of her, it's head bowed down as it was about to ram her. Then, an idea struck her. She quickly stepped to the side and hit it in the back like a bullfighter as it passed. The spikes dug into it's back right below the protective pads that shielded his upper torso. The teen grunted and tumbled to the ground.

Olé!

Lynn was about to run up to him and deliver the finishing blow when she was suddenly hauled backwards. The unexpected jerk caused her to drop her club and she struggled to break free of whatever it was that seized her.

The football player was suddenly back on his feet and was about to charge her again. Lynn screamed for help as the diseased teen went into a full-on sprint. Lynn tried her best to wriggle free from her captor. If this teen rammed into her he'd probably end up breaking all her ribs. The teen was about to slam into her when something slammed into him and knocked him off course. His shoulder ending up crashing against the shoulder of whoever was holding Lynn and they both toppled away.

Lynn, now free, dove forward, away from the teen and picked up her iron club in a continuous motion. She took a quick glance away from the football player and saw Cooper lying on the ground with his mouth wide open, rolling from side to side and kicking his legs. Lynn recognized those indicators- he most likely got the wind knocked out of him.

Poor thing. That was one feeling Lynn- or anybody- could never get used to no matter how many times it happened.

Lynn suddenly remembered the green that almost rammed into her a few seconds earlier she looked back to see the football player getting up while the green that had been restraining her seemed to be having trouble. His right arm was dangling limply as if it had been dislocated. Lynn was suddenly too terrified to imagine how much worse _her_ injuries could have been.

Instead, she gripped her club tightly, her red, bloodstained knuckles turning white. As the football player charged her again. He was strong and fast, but he wasn't smart because as soon as he got too close, Lynn simply stepped aside again this time hitting the teen in his shins. There was a loud snap as the teen tumbled over again. Lynn then pounced on him and ripped his helmet off, leaving his head exposed. Lynn then brought her club down on his head with all her might and fury. There was a loud crunch and the teen was out of the game.

Lynn hollered and held her fist in the air in a celebratory gesture. Then, quickly turned back at the green that had grabbed her before. His right arm still dangled, and he was reaching for her with his left.

Lynn admired his tenacity, but he was out of his league. She held her club like a baseball player up to bat and delivered the final blow. Sending the green twisting away.

She then turned her attention back to Cooper who was beginning to stand up. She helped him up and thanked him.

"I owe you one," she said.

Cooper smiled, "Just please don't get grabbed again. I don't think I could stand to tackle another grown-up again."

"Don't be a baby," Lynn joked, and forcefully patted him on his shoulder, making him wince. She then turned back to face the horde. "We're still far from finished."

 **13.**

Stan stood with his mace grasped firmly. Behind him was Mary holding a large dagger. She was eager to help but Stan told her to stay behind him, he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. Next to him was Shade, holding a machete. His eyes were darting back and forth- and up and down for some reason.

Shade really wished he'd smoked before this battle, but he told himself he needed to be alert and ready. However, he really wished Mary Jane was right beside him, speaking words of encouragement. Even if she wasn't real and her words meant nothing, she was all he had. Even though he was surrounded by dozens of kids and countless dead bodies, he felt like the loneliest kid in the world.

Stan stood still, waiting for another adult to come his way, he wasn't going to risk stepping up to the horde, he'd already seen a few kids make the mistake of getting too close and get dragged into the mob. Suddenly, he heard the sound of something heavy and metal rustling in the crowd. He looked to see a tough looking adult male approaching holding a long length of metal chain links. A kid tried to rush the adult, but the grown-up just ended up whipping the kid in the face sending him spiraling away as blood sprayed out of the wound it caused on his face. Another kid tried to be bold as well only to be whipped across the face too. Then another kid who wore glasses stepped up wielding a slingshot. Stan recognized him, his name was Franklin. He took aim and was about to fire when a weak looking female green grabbed him by the arm. Franklin let the ball fly and it struck the green with the chains in the arm. He angrily looked to see who hit him and saw Franklin shoving the adult who grabbed him to the ground and stomping on it's head until it's skull was crushed.

Unfortunately, he was too caught up with that to notice the green with the chains approaching him. Stan shouted at Franklin to watch out. But by the time the boy with the glasses looked up, it was too late. The green whipped him with his chains right across his face. Knocking his glasses off. As well as his nose.

Franklin screamed louder than Stan had ever heard him scream before as he fell backwards. The surrounding greens seized the opportunity and swarmed the defenseless boy. Devouring him in mere seconds.

Stan just stood there, gawking. He felt great shame for not being able to help the kids who had been knocked down by the green with the chains and then get eaten alive by other greens. The rustling of the chains suddenly brought him back to the present and he looked to see the adult male approaching him, his eyes were cold, and his face was covered with several small cuts. Wounds that were most likely caused by kids who had challenged him before, only to suffer the same fate as Franklin (or maybe he sometimes had trouble controlling the chains trajectory).

Stan gripped his mace determinedly; no way was he going to run away. This green was going to pay for what he did to Franklin and the other kids. He was aware of Mary next to him. She had seen the damage this grown-up could inflict and was just as scared as he was. Shade held his machete up with both hands like a lightsaber, he looked ridiculous like always.

The green was about to strike, and Stan charged him. The grown-up lashed at him with the chains and Stan held up his mace to block the attack. The chain ended up wrapping around his weapon and the green heaved the chained and pulled the mace right out of Stan's hand. The sudden jerk caused Stan to fall forward. The mace landed next to the green as it became untangled. The green was about to whip Stan when Mary cried out his name. The green looked to see Mary charging him with Shade right behind her. She held up her dagger like she was going to strike the grown-up.

But the green wasn't afraid of her. He pulled the chain back and lashed out at Mary. The chain struck her across her right cheek, striking her like a bolt of lightning and sending her spiraling backwards as red mist briefly filled the air around her. She dropped to the ground as blood began to gush from her cheek.

Mary sat there, stunned as she placed a hand to her cheek. Then she realized how badly she'd been hurt and a high-pitched scream of pain escaped from her mouth. Shade stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes darted from Mary to the grown-up with the chains. Every time he looked back to Mary, more and more blood streamed from her wound and stained the green grass red. His face became even more pale than it already was as he just stood behind her like a statue, not wanting to suffer the same fate as her- or anyone else for that matter.

Stan, however, was a different story. The bomb inside him had finally gone off. And every ounce of rage he had saved for the Loud siblings was about to be unleashed on this poor, unfortunate green.

He shot up like a predator springing from a bush and slammed into the green just as it turned back to him, knocking him flat. Even though this green was twice Stan's size, Stan was angry, and the green hadn't been expecting this. Stan had always heard stories about how even the biggest of people can be knocked down by the smallest of people if they're suddenly struck without warning.

Stan summoned strength he didn't even know he had as he delivered a series of punches to the grown-ups unprotected face. Knocking his head from side to side and breaking his nose in the process. The green suddenly regained his composure and bared his teeth. For some reason Stan noted that this adult still had braces even though he looked to be in his mid-thirties. The adult tried to shove Stan off of him, but Stan wouldn't budge. He wasn't going to give this green an inch, he was going to pin him down and punch him until his brain oozed from his broken skull.

Shade knelt by Mary and tried to calm her down, but she was a wreck and would not stop screaming. Shade looked around for someone to help but all the kids around them were too lost in their own battles to notice them. He then looked to Stan and saw that he was still punching the shit out of the green with the chains. Shade called out to him, but Stan was completely enveloped in beating the greens head in. In fact, he was too focused on killing the green that he didn't notice even more greens approaching him. Shade had to momentarily abandon Mary to help Stan out. He ran as fast as he could and swung his machete swiftly and hard enough to decapitate one of the approaching greens. He shouted to Stan again and the boy looked up in time to see that he was about to be swarmed. He then reached for his mace and held it to that the top of the mace was facing down and delivered forceful blows until the greens head was completely caved in.

Stan then got up and studied the dead green for a moment, it was a testament to his rage and need to protect the only person who mattered to him anymore. That thought caused him to jerk his head back towards Mary. She was still sitting on the ground, screaming and crying as blood continued to flow down her cheek. An adult male was quickly approaching her, it's mouth turned up in a wicked grin.

Stan grunted loudly in anger and stormed towards Mary, striking the green that dared approach her, wiping the smirk off its face completely. Then he knelt to Mary's level and his face went from blistering fury, to cool compassion.

Mary was too busy screaming to notice him. He didn't know if she was screaming because of the pain from being whipped, or if it was from the horrifying sight of the blood that gushed from her wound like a fountain. He wasn't too eager to find out, all that mattered was getting Mary out of here and fixing her wound.

"Mary… Mary!" Stan frantically called to her to get her to look at him, but he couldn't match her screaming that was now becoming gurgled due to the blood. He then placed a hand on her shoulder which got her attention. She looked at him with fearful, tear-stained eyes.

"It's okay, it's okay. I'm here."

Mary's eyes were still filled with tears, but she looked relieved to see that Stan was okay.

"Don't worry," he told her softly. "I've got you." He then put a hand under her left arm and hastily, yet gingerly, lifted her to her feet.

Her face was beginning to pale and she had trouble standing up. He draped one of her arms around his neck and began to shuffle towards the entrance of the school. Away from the battlefield.

Shade tried to help, but Stan told him that he had it covered, and he should just go back and fight.

Shade reluctantly agreed. He felt bad for letting Mary get hurt like that. He wondered if it should have been him. When Stan was fell forward after trying to attack that green with the chains. He hesitated in trying to come to his aid, then Mary stepped up before him and charged the green which caused Shade to follow suit. But that one step made all the difference. Now Mary was injured, and Shade was by himself. Holding only his machete. He scanned the crowd for a familiar face, then he spotted Joey with his axe taking it to the greens. Shade decided to go and help him out.

Not that he needed it.

 **14.**

Ethan and his best friend Lexi were showing the Princess and her army that they weren't afraid of her. They worked in perfect synchronization. Ethan chopped down greens with his sword, he believed it was called a saber, it had a curved blade and a leather grip. Any green that approached him was quickly cut down. The army was thinning out. He and is his group were doing it. Not that he doubted them. They were all tough kids just like him. He continued to hack and slash with only one goal in mind- kill The Princess.

Lexi was mowing down greens with her double headed axe. She grunted with every swing, her muscles were bulging. She was a strong girl, she could kick anyone's ass. When she was little she tried to play sports with boys, but they'd always refuse to let her play with them because she was a girl, but every time that happened she'd make them regret not letting her play with them. She'd challenge them all, and then beat them so badly that they refused to let her play with them because she was too good. She didn't care though.

 _Don't respect anyone who doesn't respect you._ That's what her dad always told her. She missed her parents. They always encouraged her and told her to never be afraid of anything. Which she always tried to do. But right now, however, she was afraid. Afraid of dying. Which was nothing to worry about, everyone was afraid of dying. Except, when you're staring down countless of adults who are trying to rip you apart, you tend to get more than afraid, you get terrified. But all you can do is fight through the terror and survive. Live to fight another day, through even more terror until there's nothing left to fear. At least she didn't have to fight alone, she had Ethan with her. She loved him like a brother. She said brother because that's the only thing she could compare him to. She wasn't attracted to boys, only girls. Ethan knew this, and he didn't care. He liked her just the way she was. He was always kind to her. They'd been friends since elementary school. He thought she was cool. He'd always let her play sports with him. Too bad there weren't many other girls here who were as into sports as she was. There was that one little brunette girl who wore that baseball shirt with the long red sleeves. Who almost got into a fight with Ethan the day they arrived in Royal Woods. She may have been as what others would call: a tomboy. But Lexi still thought she was cute and she couldn't help but wonder…

A grown-up suddenly took a swing at her with a wooden leg that looked like it had been ripped off a table. Luckily Lexi was able to dodge and retaliated with a swing of her own , taking off the top of the grown-up's head.

 _Focus._ Lexi told herself. There'd be plenty of time to sort out her feeling later. Right now, all that mattered was defeating these adults who had chased them out of their home state of Indiana once and for all.

The Princess was losing what little patience she had. Why weren't these little peasants taken care of yet? How hard could it be to kill a couple of nobodies. Her subjects were strong, loyal and eager to prove themselves to her. If that were the case, then she should be feasting on the blood of her adversaries by now. Then she spotted one of the peasants making its way towards her. He was stained red with the blood of her fallen subjects and his eyes were set on her. It made her a little uneasy, but she knew her loyal subjects wouldn't let her down.

Ethan was filled with rage. There she was. Dressed in all pink, sitting on her throne, being carried like the princess she thought she was. Well, he had news for her- she wasn't a princess anymore than he was the fucking Easter Bunny.

Lexi called after him as he made his way towards the grown-up, but he ignored her. He cut down green, after green, after green. Nothing was going to stop him from killing that bitch. He didn't care if he died.

 _What are you waiting for? Kill that boy!_ The Princess cried out to her subjects. She was beginning to panic, which was uncharacteristic of her. But it looked like this boy didn't care if he died. And someone who isn't afraid of dying is the most dangerous type of person. She shifted nervously on her litter and looked down at the subjects who were holding her, they were completely oblivious to what was going on, they only knew how to carry her, not how to fight. She would be most upset and embarrassed if any of them were to be cut down, causing her to tumble to the ground. That would be the absolute worst thing to happen to her. Besides being killed.

The boy inched ever closer. Causing the Princess to lose her composure.

 _I SAID KILL HIM YOU USELESS, INSOLENT, FUCK!_

Ethan was only a few yards away, he was covered in cuts and bruises, but he didn't care. None of that would matter once he killed the bitch. He slashed away at the few remaining greens that stood between him and his target. Then it was just him and her. He noticed the panic in her eyes and it gave him great satisfaction. The only thing that would be better than that would be seeing her dead.

"Die bitch!" he yelled and raised his saber. The Princess held out her arms to protect herself.

Ethan was about to plunge the sword into her chest when he felt pressure on his own chest. He stumbled backwards and looked down to see a sword had been driven into him. Ethan just stood there in complete disbelief.

 _Damn, I was so close._

He felt his arm lowering the saber and eventually letting go of it. He then heard Lexi scream his name again. Ethan turned and looked at the adult who had impaled him. It was a big, burly man with a crew cut.

Ethan opened his mouth to swear at the adult but all that came out was a stream of blood.

The adult quickly removed the sword from Ethan's chest and he fell backwards. Tears began to fill his eyes. As he stared up at the blue sky, there were a few feathery clouds here and there.

Blue and White. Just like the Colts, his home team. He was suddenly back in Indianapolis with his parents enjoying a stroll through the city. There was no place he'd rather be.

* * *

 _Hmph. Serves him right._ The Princess thought. _How dare he think he can kill me._ _Me_ _, t_ _he Princess._ She then turned and studied her fallen subjects, and then turned to her bodyguard who had saved her from that awful peasant. _Who needs mindless drones when you have one big strong man?_

She then heard an awful high-pitched scream that aggravated her to the core. She looked to see another peasant approaching her. She turned back to her big strong bodyguard and pointed at the approaching girl.

 _Kill her too and I may let you touch me._

The bodyguard grinned salaciously and began to advance on the girl.

Lexi was distraught. Her best friend was dead, and it was all _that_ bitches fault. Lexi hated her for even existing. She was going to kill that pink bitch no matter what. She gripped her axe tightly and continued to charge. She saw that the green that killed Ethan was willing to kill her as well.

No matter. She was determined to do the same to him. He swung his sword at her and she swung her axe at his sword. Apparently, this man was just like all the others- he underestimated her strength. She hit his sword with such force that it went flying out of his hand and ended up spearing one of the adults who was carrying the princess' litter in the head. He ended up falling to the ground and the litter fell to the ground, causing The Princess to tumble off of it.

The bodyguard was shocked, he then angrily turned to Lexi and grabbed her by the shoulders. Even then, he underestimated her. She broke free from his grasp and headbutted him. Causing him to stumble backwards. She then swung her axe and decapitated him. Blood shot out of his open neck like a fountain and then his body fell backwards.

Lexi then turned her attention to the Princess whose pretty pink clothes were stained with dirt and blood.

The Princess then looked up at her with nothing but panic in her eyes.

Lexi was going to enjoy this. She looked around to make sure there were no more surprises waiting for her. But all of the Princess' subjects were too distracted with trying to fight the other kids from Lexi's group.

"It's just you and me now, _princess_ ," Lexi marched right up to the terrified princess who held her hands up as if she were surrendering.

Lexi swung her axe as hard as she could and took off The Princess' hands, causing blood to squirt from them too. The Princess made a gasping sound and looked at her arms, shocked that her beautiful, elegant hands were no longer attached. Then Lexi butted her in the mouth with the wedge of her axe knocking out several of her teeth in the process. The Princess looked around at all her teeth that lay scattered on the ground. She then returned her gaze to Lexi as if she were begging her to stop.

Lexi wasn't going to show her any mercy. This bitch followed her and her group all the way from South Bend, Indiana for crying out loud. She could've left them alone, but she didn't. She deserved what was about to happen to her.

She then hit her again with the axe wedge. This time striking her in her cute little nose, flattening it. The Princess was knocked on her back, blood was gushing from her flattened nose. The Princess brought her arms up to her nose to hold it, but quickly forgot that she didn't have any hands.

Lexi then pressed her foot down on The Princess' chest to keep her from squirming and raised her axe. The Princess held up her arms, as if she were still begging to be sparred. It was quite pathetic, really. Lexi brought the axe down with every ounce of strength she could muster and crushed the Princess's skull, ending her reign of terror once and for all.

 **15.**

 _Did you feel that?_ Crony asked Chris.

"Feel what?"

 _Someone…powerful… just died._

"Who?" Chris asked, slightly concerned. There was no way it could've been any of the more powerful ones he was thinking of. Like The one with the sledgehammer.

 _I don't think… it was anyone we knew._

"Are you sure… Are you positive?"

 _Hard to tell over all the chatter…everyone's talking at once._

Chris rolled his eyes. Why was he worried. The kids had run out of ammo for their guns and they had to be getting weak. He would win just like he always did.

 **16.**

Joey was something to behold. He was an absolute wrecking machine with his axe. Any green that even dared to get too close to him was massacred. There was a reason that every kid in the school feared him. He felt invincible. No measly green was going to kill him. All around him were dead greens. Some kids even got close to him for safety. He felt like he was carrying them and that kind of annoyed him, but at the same time it made him feel like the most powerful kid on the face of the earth. No one could challenge him.

No one.

That one pothead kid behind him now. He too was impressed with Joey's ability to go on a rampage and not get tired. Some more kids began to appear by Joey's side and cover his flanks. He was too valuable to lose. That thought also made him feel special.

If they kept this up and worked together they would win. They would be finished in no time, which was a shame because Joey was really hoping for a challenge.

"Randy, look out!" someone screamed.

Joey, and several other kids looked. At the same time Joey wondered if whoever screamed could be more specific? There several adults surrounding them what exactly should Randy be looking out for- OH SHIT!

A tall, muscular adult wielding a sledgehammer was barreling straight towards Randy, the weird boy who always shouted names of random movies and actors.

Joey sprang forward to try and save Randy, but he was too late. Even Randy hardly had a chance to react as the towering adult swung his sledgehammer at Randy's head. The poor kids head exploded like a bomb had gone off inside of it.

"Holy Gallagher, Batman!" Shade screamed, and he dropped the machete he was holding and ran back towards the school. Several other kids followed suit, all of them screaming their heads off. Scarred by what they had just witnessed.

Joey yelled after them. But they ignored him. So much for what he said about nobody dying while running away.

Oh well. At least it sounded cool.

Joey then turned back at the adult who towered over the surrounding adults. He must be who one of the kids called: _The Tower._

Joey gripped his axe as he and The Tower made eye contact. He felt a smile creeping up his face. Meanwhile, The Tower's face was cold and emotionless.

"Great," Joey said, "I was hoping for a challenge."

He then charged The Tower, still as invigorated as he was before.

 **17.**

Lana had made it, she kicked open the air duct cover and was now on the roof of the school. She then made her way over to the parapet and looked out at the battlefield. What she saw made her stomach roll over: All around the front of the school were dead bodies of kids and adults, while several were still up and fighting.

She knew this is what she'd see when she got up here. But it still didn't make it any easier. She needed to focus. She came here for one reason and one reason only- to kill Grease Monkey.

The question was- where was he? He could be long gone by now, or dead. Lana hoped it was the latter. The thought of Grease Monkey still roaming the earth made her sick, which is definitely saying something.

 _Come on, come on, Lana. You can do this. Just think of it as Where's Waldo._ A game she played with Lola several times.

Plus, there was the fact that she was a mechanic/repairman. When your job is to fix things, you learn to spot even the tiniest of-

Lana's heart almost stopped. It couldn't be. It was just too easy. She was only up here for a couple of seconds. She expected to have to scan the battlefield several times over, but nope, it was him all right. She wasn't imagining it like in her nightmares where every adult was Grease Monkey. There was no mistaking him: His tall, looming figure; his dark, greasy hair; his mechanic uniform.

Grease Monkey was still alive.

He was walking around the battlefield, wielding a monkey wrench. Swinging at any kid who got too close.

Lana's heart began to beat faster. She quickly pulled out her bow and arrow and leant against the parapet. The moment she had dreamt of had finally arrived. Luckily, she figured out how to use a bow. She was a fast learner. She was also accurate and deadly.

She was Lana Loud.

She slid the arrow into the bow and pulled the string back. Grease Monkey was completely oblivious to her presence. Lana was a little disappointed that if all went right, Grease Monkey wouldn't know what hit him, and would die without knowing that it was her who killed him.

Lana was just about to let the arrow fly when she heard someone's voice.

"Lana!"

Lana released the arrow and it went flying right towards Grease Monkey. It struck him in the shoulder and he quickly ducked down.

"Dang it," Lana said and turned back to see Lincoln, as well as Lucy and Lola.

"What?" she asked, intensely. Annoyed that her brother messed up her shot.

"What do you mean _what?_ " Lincoln angrily said. "Why did you sneak out of the closet and crawl all the way up here?"

"Why do you think?" Lana retorted. "I'm here to kill _him_ ," She pointed into the crowd. Towards Grease Monkey, who had pulled the arrow out of his shoulder and was now looking at her. Lana could tell his eyes were filled with ire. It was scary, but Lana smiled at him anyway.

"Are you nuts," Lincoln said, his voice filled with irritation and trepidation. "After what happened last time?"

"Don't worry," Lana said, turning back to her brother "There's no way he'll be able to get us up here."

Lincoln was about to say something else When Clyde suddenly emerged from the vents as well.

"Clyde? What are you doing? I thought I told you to watch Lily."

Lincoln's friend was sweaty and out of breath.

"Don't worry," he said, "I left Lily with Penelope."

"Why did you come up after us?" Lincoln asked.

Clyde smiled. "Come on, there was no way I was gonna let you handle this by yourself. What kind of friend would I be?"

Lincoln couldn't help but smile. He could always count on Clyde. He was his best friend. He'd always have his back no matter what and nothing was going to change that.

Lincoln then turned back to Lana and his face became stern again. "Now, come on, Lana. Are you going to come quietly, or am I going to have to drag you?"

Lana furiously shook her head. "No. I have to do this. We're safe up here. They can't get us."

Lincoln sighed. Lana had a point. It's not like the adults could climb walls, or anything.

"Okay," he relented. "But hurry up."

Lana nodded and turned back. She was in the middle of taking another bow out of the quiver she brought with her when she heard all her siblings gasp at once. She looked back to see them all rushing towards her, with Lincoln at the lead. She then turned back and was face to face with Grease Monkey.

She didn't even have a chance to gasp as Grease Monkey reached out and grabbed her.

Lana screamed as he began to pull her towards him. Then Lincoln grabbed her by her arm, her other siblings and Clyde tried to help as well.

Lana continued to scream as her siblings played a deadly game of Tug of War. Lincoln and the others all pulled at once which caused Grease Monkey to lose his balance momentarily and give them the upper hand. They all fell back on their butts and the bow and arrow Lana was holding went flying behind them.

Grease Monkey went toppling backwards as well.

Lana was on her feet in a second.

"How did he get up here?" she asked no one in particular.

"I don't know," Lincoln said. "Let's just get the heck out of here, this was a mistake, Lana."

He tried to grab her arm, but she pulled away.

"No! I gotta see how he did that!" Lana powered through her fears and hurried over to the ledge again. Ignoring Lincoln calling after her. She looked over the edge and was shocked at what she saw- grown-ups were piled on top of each other, like that of a human pyramid and Grease Monkey was using them to climb up.

Lana couldn't believe how organized they were. Good thing they didn't think of doing this sooner. Lincoln was right behind Lana again and was about to drag her away when Grease Monkey popped up again. Apparently, he was the only adult smart enough to know how to climb up the pile. Lana screamed, and Lincoln suddenly shoved her away, putting himself between her and Grease Monkey.

The former mechanic suddenly grabbed Lincoln and lifted him up. Lincoln squirmed, trying to punch and kick the adult, but it was useless.

"Lincoln!" everyone screamed as they ran towards him.

Grease Monkey wasn't interested in the white-haired boy, he only wanted Lana. He tried throwing him off the school, but Lincoln suddenly latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. The mechanic shook his arm, but Lincoln clung on tight.

"Run!" he told his siblings, but they weren't going to abandon their brother.

Lana reached into her tool belt and pulled out a screwdriver with a pointy head. She charged Grease Monkey and stabbed him in the leg. The mechanic grunted and turned to Lana and picked her up with his free arm.

Lana, still holding onto the screwdriver, stabbed him multiple times in the arm, causing him to let go. Lana landed hard on her back.

Lincoln realized that he was no longer being dangled over the edge of the school and quickly let go of the mechanic, causing him to land hard on his back as well.

Clyde, Lucy and Lola were trying to drag Lana away from the adult and help her to her feet. But now Grease Monkey was mad, and he was going to kill all of them.

He pulled out his monkey wrench and charged them. They all screamed, and Clyde stood in front of them, willing to defend them with his life.

Lincoln, now back on his feet, chased after the mechanic and managed to grab him by the legs. Grease Monkey simply responded by kicking the white-haired boy in the face as hard as he could, knocking him flat.

"Lincoln!" they all screamed in unison.

The mechanic then turned back to them, smiling his creepy smile as he marched slowly towards them like a killer in a horror movie.

This was it. Lana thought. Her absolute resolve to kill Grease Monkey was going to get her siblings killed. Even after nearly being killed last time, she still didn't learn her lesson. Her siblings didn't deserve to die. If anyone deserved to die- it was her.

Grease Monkey stood before then now, towering over all of them. He raised the monkey wrench again and was about to bring it down on Clyde when suddenly, something small and yellow flew by the mechanics head, startling him for a spit second.

He looked around, wondering if what just flew by him was another projectile, then whatever it was flew past him again. Grease Monkey was getting agitated as the thing kept flying around him. He swatted at it like a person would swat at a bee that was buzzing around their head. Only the thing wasn't a bee- it was a bird. A Canary.

"Walt!" Lana and her siblings exclaimed.

Their pet bird that they'd thought was long gone was now right in front of them, flying circles around Grease Monkey. The grown-up was angrily swinging his wrench at the bird, but Walt was too fast. At one point, Walt even pooped on Grease Monkey, which made him even angrier. He hated being made a fool of.

The mechanic was distracted by the bird. Lana suddenly remember her bow and arrow, she looked around and spotted them. She quickly dove towards them, picked them up and took aim in one continuous motion.

As she took aim, Walt landed on Grease Monkey's head and pecked him right in his right eye. The mechanic hissed and began to swing more furiously. Walt flew away, his job was done.

Grease Monkey watched the bird fly away and held up his monkey wrench and shook it. As if her were saying: _Yeah, you better run!_ (or fly)

Grease Monkey then turned back to the kids and noticed Lana was no longer with them. He then saw that she was a few feet away from them. And as soon as he noticed her- it was too late for him.

Lana let the arrow fly and cried out with joy when the arrow struck Grease Monkey in his left eye. The front of the arrow was now sticking out of the back of Grease Monkey's head. He just stood there, shocked. His mouth slightly agape. He then dropped his monkey wrench and slowly reached a trembling hand towards the end of the arrow. Then he fell over backwards.

Grease Monkey would never be able to hurt Lana, or anyone else ever again.

Lana was laughing maniacally now, she knew she'd be the last one smiling.

Above them Walt flew in circles like birds normally do over dead carcasses.

Then, she noticed Lincoln still lying on the ground a few feet away, he began to stir.

"Lincoln," they all cried at once again.

They rushed over to him as he lifted his head.

"Are you okay, Linky?" Lola asked, worriedly.

"Yeah, I think so," he said. "What happened."

"I did it Lincoln, I killed Grease Monkey!" Lana told him, excitedly.

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

After a few brief exchanges Lincoln got up.

"Come on," he said. "Let's get out of here." And they began to walk to a door that led back into the school. They'd had enough vent crawling for one day.

Lincoln looked up and smiled when he saw Walt flying overhead. Then he turned to Clyde, his best friend in the entire world. His siblings told him how he was willing to risk his own life for them when Grease Monkey charged them.

"Thanks," Lincoln said to him.

"For what?" Clyde asked.

"For everything. You've always had my back, even since the beginning when the world went mad. You were there with me every step of the way. I'm glad to have you as a friend, man. You're one of a kind."

Clyde smiled. "No problem, buddy."

Lincoln was about to reach over and place a hand on Clyde's shoulder when suddenly, something red and heavy struck his friend hard in the side of his head. More specifically, the temple. Knocking his glasses off of his head.

Lincoln's heart nearly stopped as his friend fell hard to the ground. Completely motionless.

He watched as blood began to gush, heavily from his wound. And next to his head a brick landed weightily on the hard, concrete floor of the roof.

Lincoln's sisters all screamed at once and Lincoln shifted his gaze from his best friend over to the parapet. It all felt like it was happening in slow motion as he saw a shirtless, muscular adult climbing over the parapet.

Lincoln instantly recognized him- it was Brick.

Lincoln clenched his fists angrily as hot tears began to form in his eyes. Brick cocked his arm back and prepared to throw another brick. Lincoln stared him down, showing him that he wasn't afraid. But Brick didn't care. Instead, he threw the brick as hard as he could. Lincoln dodged it and it ended up slamming against the metal door that led back into the school.

Lincoln continued to stare Brick down. Then Walt swooped down to try and peck at Brick, but Brick snatched him with lightning reflexes and squeezed until Walt's head popped.

Lincoln's sisters all screamed and that brought him out of his state of fury. He turned back to them and they helped him pick up Clyde. His friend was unconscious and bleeding profusely.

"Inside, NOW!" Lincoln yelled and they all hurried towards the door and Brick began to run after them. Picking up the brick he threw at Clyde in the process.

They soon reached the door and Lola sprang forward and opened it and ran in along with her siblings. As soon as Lincoln was inside he turned and reached for the doorknob to shut the door, catching a glimpse of Brick in the process. He had his arm cocked back and threw the brick, but Lincoln slammed the door before he could be hit. Lincoln held the door shut at as Brick pounded on it. Unfortunately, there was no way for Lincoln to lock the door.

Brick continued to pound on the door and Lincoln and his sisters couldn't keep it shut much longer. His sisters were crying, Clyde was continuing to bleed heavily. This really seemed to be it for them. Brick was going to barge in and rip them apart.

Then, Brick stopped beating on the door. For a brief moment Lincoln thought he gave up, but then he slammed against the door with all his might, nearly knocking Lincoln and his siblings away in the process. It was a close one. If they did fall over, they'd have fallen down the stairs the led up to the door.

That's when Lincoln had an idea. He turned to his siblings and told them to take Clyde down to the bottom of the steps and wait.

"What! Why?" Lola cried. "What are you going to do?"

"Just trust me," Lincoln said.

Brick slammed against the door again.

"Now! Go, go, go!" he told them.

Lucy, Lana and Lola wasted no time and propped Clyde up by draping his arms around their shoulders and hurried down the steps.

Lincoln then reached for the doorknob and listened closely. It was quiet at first. Then he heard the footsteps bounding towards the door. Lincoln seized the moment and opened the door right as he was sure Brick was about to slam into it.

The shirtless, muscular adult charged right past him and tumbled violently down the steps. Grunting and hissing all the way down.

Lincoln quickly shut the door and charged down the steps after him. Lincoln's sisters screamed the entire time Brick was falling. His plan worked. He prided himself on coming up with plans on the fly, and this one wasn't as difficult as others- but it worked.

Brick was on the ground writhing. Lincoln wasn't sure if these things could feel pain, but he hoped they could. A broken bone was sticking out of Brick's leg, preventing him from standing up.

Lincoln then noticed the Brick he was holding- the same one he used to hit Clyde- lying on the ground.

Lincoln picked it up and pounced on Brick, who was now crawling towards his younger sisters. He hit Brick as hard as he could on the head with the brick again and again and again. Blood was beginning to form from wounds caused by being hit with the heavy object. Brick thrashed and tried to buck Lincoln off him, but the eleven-year-old was relentless. He kept hitting and hitting with all his might. Eventually Brick stopped moving, but Lincoln didn't. He kept going at it until the brick eventually broke in two. Even then, Lincoln didn't stop. He kept at it, eventually Bricks head was cracked open completely and it felt as though Lincoln was smashing the brick into Gelatin.

"Lincoln!" A voice called out. Lincoln ignored it and continued to pulverize Brick

 _Smash! Smash! Smash!_

"Lincoln!" a second voice spoke up.

 _Smash! smash! smash!_

"LINCOLN!" a third voice said, and he felt someone grab him by the arm which snapped him out of his rage.

He looked to see Lucy holding his arm, a frightened look on her face from what he could tell (hard to see behind her bangs). Behind her, Lana and Lola held each other with terrified expressions on their faces as well.

"It's over. He's dead." Lucy said calmly.

Lincoln looked back at what used to be the back of Brick's head and dropped the brick. He sniffed and wiped tears from his eyes as Lucy helped him up, he then went over to the twins and hugged them. Asked them if they were all okay.

They nodded.

"Okay, good," was all he said and then he went over to Clyde and lifted him up and they all continued down the hall.

 **18.**

The battle was still raging on. The ground was littered with bodies of dead, partially eaten kids and dead grown-ups. The blood of the fallen flooded the ground. Kids who, before the blast had never picked up a weapon in their life were giving it everything they had to beat down the people who used to look after them. No matter what happened, no matter if they won or didn't win this battle, no matter who died, no matter who survived. Nothing was going to be the same after today.

Brock was aware of that as he swung his baseball bat that had nails driven in to it- a nail bat- into the heads of grown-ups who no longer served as protectors- but as attackers. They were no longer guardians, they were enemies.

He didn't care if he lived or died. He just wanted to beat the army and ensure a future for all the kids of Royal Woods and beyond.

The kids were beginning to get overwhelmed. A lot of them were fleeing back to the school. Brock had one last trick up his sleeve. As he beat back one grown-up he looked around at all the cars that he'd made some of the kids move into strategically placed positions. It was going to be a final effort. Once they'd served their purpose. He too, would have to fall back to the school and hope for the best.

Several yards away Joey was in the fight of his life against the huge adult with the sledgehammer, The Tower. He'd gotten a few good hits on the large adult, but they had little effect; he was just too strong. But Joey wouldn't give up, he never gave up. He was Joey freakin' Moore: the strongest, most badass kid in all of Royal Woods. He wasn't about to lose to some guy with a sledgehammer.

At the moment neither Joey nor The Tower were showing any signs of exhaustion, they were both still going strong. Neither of them knew the definition of the word: defeat. But still, Joey was weary. The Tower may have been able to withstand his strikes with the axe, but one good hit with the sledgehammer was all The Tower needed to put the stubborn teen out of commission.

Luckily Joey was faster, he'd purposefully get too close to the big grown-up then dodge his swings and good a get hit in when The Tower missed.

The huge adult was getting angry. Which was good for Joey, people tend to get sloppy when they're angry. One misstep was all Joey needed, he just needed to bide his time. Thank goodness none of the other adults were interfering in the fight. The Tower must've been too proud to ask for help in dealing with one measly teen. Once the fight started all the other adults backed away, apparently none of them wanted to get in The Tower's way, lest they suffer the same fate as Randy.

"Come on, you big green asshole!" Joey shouted, which prompted The Tower to charge him. He raised his hammer and swung downward with all his might. He was fast, but still, Joey was faster. He jumped backwards. Only he misjudged how far back he'd jump and ended up falling over Randy's corpse, dropping his axe in the process.

The Tower seized the moment and raised his sledgehammer again, ready to bring down all of his fury on the defenseless teen.

Joey's eyes widened and for the first moment in his life, he felt fear.

* * *

 _A few minutes before…_

Duke had to keep psyching himself up. Again, and again he'd stop and get scared as he got closer to the front of the school. To where he'd exit the building and enter the danger zone. It had gone on for several minutes. But he had to be brave for his family, brave for everyone. He gripped his spear and continued to run down the hall eventually reaching the foyer. It was absolute madness: Sanjay, who acted as the school's doctor, was working tirelessly with Eve, the girl who was apparently the doctor for the middle school before they came here. Brian Allen was helping them too, he was a genius after all and knew just as much about the human body as Sanjay and Eve. With him was Norman. One of the kids from Indiana, apparently, he was always interested in learning about the human body and that was good enough for Sanjay to ask him to help them out.

Duke studied all the injured kids: there were kids with small cuts while others had deep lacerations and wouldn't stop bleeding. Some of the kids however, didn't even look injured, they just sat around crying. He saw that one of the uninjured kids was Shade, the kid who was high like, ninety percent of the time. He was babbling incoherently and kept putting his hands to his face as he shook his head.

Duke then noticed Stan kneeling next to girl, while holding a piece of cloth up to her cheek. It was dark red, but Duke knew that that was because of the blood that was gushing from the girl's cheek. That's when Duke recognized that the girl was Mary, one of the kids who'd shown up with Zeke and the others from the church.

Stan called out to Norman for help since Sanjay and Eve were busy with other injured kids and the boy rushed over with a First Aid Kit. Duke heard Stan tell him that Mary was struck by an adult with a chain.

Norman then asked him to move the cloth away from her cheek and then sucked in air through his teeth as he studied the injury. The wound started close to her right ear and traveled down to the right corner of her mouth.

"Damn, he got you good," he said to the girl and Stan shot him a very harsh look.

"Shut up and help her," Stan demanded, pretty much shouting.

"All right, all right," Norman said, startled. He reached into the kit for something to clean the gash.

Stan placed a hand under Mary's head, so she could rest it on the floor. Her tears had stopped, but the blood didn't. She was beginning to have trouble staying conscious.

Norman hurriedly cleaned her wound and then took out a thread and needle to stitch her up.

"I'm no expert," Norman said as he began to suture her wound, "I'll do the best I can. No doubt this is going to leave a nasty scar once this is over."

Stan swore, and then spoke words of encouragement to Mary.

Duke was ashamed. Mary risked her life to fight even after he almost had her executed. That gave him all the incentive he needed. He began to make his way quickly towards the door.

Doug was standing next to it, guarding. He noticed Duke making his way over and narrowed his eyes at him.

"Well, look who _finally_ decided to- "

Duke forcefully shoved him out of the way before he could finish his sentence, causing him to fall backwards and land on his back with a hard _oof_ that sounded similar to the Roblox death sound.

Duke was now outside, standing before the battle that was taking place. All around he saw kids giving it all they had. Against the demons that had been tormenting them for the past several weeks.

He scanned the area, searching for a target to unleash his newfound courage on.

That's when he saw him. Joey, his best friend in the entire world facing a large, towering adult- The Tower, no doubt.

Duke wasted no time. He held his pistol in one hand and gripped his spear in the other. Charged the battle field. Running past several fleeing injured kids, past several kids who were still fighting, past the first green who reached for him only for him to quickly dodge it.

He then bowled another green over. Then began to whip other greens who reached out with their dirty, blood-soaked hands. He speared several of them in their stomachs and then took a few pop shots with the gun when he got overwhelmed.

The greens kept pawing and clawing at him, but he just plowed through the greens like a running back. Joey needed him, and he wasn't going to let his friend down.

It got to the point where Duke's gun ran out of bullets, so he just chucked it at the closest greens head and powered through the horde, armed only with the spear now, trying his best not to trip over dead bodies or slip on the blood-stained grass.

The sound of his friend fighting the huge adult growing closer and closer. Duke continued to strike, stab and jab until he'd finally made it through the mass.

Joey was on the ground staring up at The Tower who was about to bring down his sledgehammer on his friend.

Duke yelled and ran as fast as he could up to The Tower and drove his spear right into the side of The Tower's body.

The lofty adult grunted. Turned his head to face Duke and then backhanded him right in the face, sending him stumbling backwards.

Duke saw stars for a split second and then he felt palms of other greens press against his back to catch him and then shove him forward.

Duke's step faltered as he was shoved, but he quickly caught himself. No way he was going to fall. He turned his head and swore at the adults who pushed him and then turned back to The Tower who was in the middle of removing the spear from his body. And at that moment Duke realized just how small he was compared to the adult.

The courage that had powered him through the mob of grown-ups quickly drained from his body only to be replaced by tears as he stared up at the adult like a young fan looking up at a basketball player as he strutted past.

The Tower studied the spear, unimpressed. To him it was nothing more than a stick. He then shifted his gaze to Duke who trembled in his shoes.

"I'm sorry," Duke said in a shaky voice. He wasn't apologizing to The Tower, though. He was apologizing to his family. He was apologizing to every kid who had died. Every kid who had lost something. Every kid who had been wrangled into this mess and fought their heart out while he was too scared to do anything.

The Tower then shoved the spear into Duke's chest until the point was completely sticking out of the back of him. Then he shoved Duke away and he landed hard on the ground. Slowly sliding down on the spear that had impaled him.

He saw the blue sky. Then he saw the angry scowling faces of greens that began to swamp him. Then he saw darkness.

"NO!" Joey shouted as his best friends was impaled and then devoured by the greens.

Duke had saved him from being crushed by The Tower at the cost of his own life.

The Tower then turned back to Joey and raised his sledgehammer, but the teen picked up his axe with lightning speed and rushed the towering grown-up. Then struck him in his left arm. Joey heard a bone snap in the grown-ups arm, then he lost his grip on the sledgehammer and nearly dropped it. He was holding it with his right arm now.

Joey took another swing, but The Tower ended up blocking it with his hammer, deflecting it. Then he rammed the head of the sledgehammer into Joey's face, hitting him in the mouth. His head whiplashed back, and his two front teeth went flying out of his mouth, causing his gums to bleed.

Joey was stunned by the sudden blow. The tower seized his chance and was about to swing his weapon at the teen with his good arm when suddenly, there was a loud _boom,_ and everyone was knocked away by the sudden shockwave.

Joey could feel heat travel through his body from where the sudden blast came from. He looked and saw that one of the cars that Brock had made everyone move around was now on fire. The loud boom suddenly made sense, Brock must've set up bombs in the cars.

Joey then saw that The Tower and several other grown-ups were trying to get back up. When another explosion made them all flinch.

Then, there was another explosion, and another, and another. All the explosions were blowing the greens to smithereens.

Soon, the explosions stopped, and the battlefield was littered with bits and pieces of dead grown-ups. But there were still several greens remaining. The battle was still far from over.

The Tower angrily shot up and grabbed his sledgehammer. He was angry that he'd been knocked down. Not that it was Joey's fault, he just wanted to take his anger out on someone. And Joey was that _someone_.

Joey was fed up. His adrenaline was wearing off and he was tired. The Tower was blinded by rage which was just what Joey was hoping for. Remembering what he thought earlier about people getting careless when they're mad, Joey lifted his axe and threw it at The Tower like a tomahawk.

The large adult wasn't expecting Joey to do something so bold. Which he should've been. After all, he _did_ take him on in a one-on-one fight.

The head of the axe struck The Tower right in the face, firmly planting itself in his skull. The force of the blow knocked him back and he fell like a Mighty Oak tree. Landing on a few weaker greens who struggled to get out from under him.

Joey laughed harder than he ever had before and then held up both of his middle fingers. Then he finally succumbed to exhaustion and fainted.

 **19.**

Everyone was caught off guard by the explosions, even Chris.

"What the fuck is up with these kids?" he shouted.

Not even Crony had an answer for that one. He'd noticed that the army was getting weaker. He could sense that their lieutenants had fallen. It was just him and Chris now. There were till plenty of adults left, and as long as they both stayed alive there was now way they could lose. The kids had to be getting tired, there was no way they could win. Hopefully the kids didn't have anymore tricks up their sleeves.

* * *

The last of the car bombs had gone off. Yet there were still way too many greens. Brock was tired, his entire body ached. And the wave of grown-ups was overwhelming. Those bombs were a last-ditch effort, a final attempt that proved futile. The adults still surged forward, blinded by the desire to kill and consume everyone.

It was over. There was only one thing they could do now: retreat.

Luna's ears were ringing. She knew Brock and his buddies did something to the cars, but she wasn't expecting that. She was caught in a tangle of limbs from dead grown-ups. She and Sam were so lost in the battle, that they didn't realize they'd gotten too close to a car that had been armed with a bomb.

She couldn't find her axe. Everything was a blur as she moved her head around. Then her vision finally came back into focus and she noticed Sam lying unconscious under a dead a woman's body whose head was missing.

Luna lifted the body off her. Her friends face was a little cut up, but she looked to be all right.

She shook Sam frantically and her eyes shot open and she threw a punch. Luckily it missed Luna.

Luna told her friend that they had to hurry back to the school as she helped her to her feet. Sam looked for her sword, but it too, had vanished in the carnage.

The oldest living Loud sister then looked around for Luan and Lynn. Hoping that they weren't ripped apart, devoured, or blown to pieces. She told her friend to run and then went to go find her younger sisters

Luan was lost in the middle of a grown-up whacking frenzy when the explosions brought her back down to earth. Both she and Maggie were knocked down by the blasts, but unharmed. As soon as the last blast rang out. The comedian noticed several kids running back to the school. Apparently, they all realized how over their heads they were.

Luan was starting to get scared again. Were they all admitting defeat? Were they just going to run and hide in the school until the adults eventually got in and ransacked the place?

Maggie placed a hand on Luan's shoulder and she turned to her. Maggie now looked just as scared as Luan.

"We need to head back," she said in her cold, deadpan voice.

"And then what?" Luan asked.

Maggie just shook her head. "I don't know?"

As much as Luan wanted to run back to the school she had to find her sisters first. She told Maggie this and the dark-haired girl just sighed and lifted her knives, ready to help Luan, yet again.

Lynn was knocked down by the shockwaves just like everybody else. But each time, she got back up. She wasn't going to let some dumb explosion keep her down.

Her heart was still pumping fast. Sweat was pouring down her face like rain water sliding down a window. And her arms were still swinging like mad.

"Lynn!" a voice yelled.

Lynn recognized the voice as Cooper's, but she ignored it.

Eventually, the voice grew more urgent and then there were more voices shouting her name now.

"WHAT?" Lynn screamed and then she saw Luna and Luan all looking at her with complete and utter fear in their eyes.

"We need to head back to the school!" Luna yelled.

"Fuck that!" Lynn spat. "I'm not running away."

"Lynn, please," her older sister urged. "You can't kill all of them."

"Watch me!"

Luna swore and hurried up to her younger sister and grabbed her before she could take another swing at an adult.

Lynn began to kick and scream to be let go. Luan then went to help her sister carry Lynn away.

"No!" Lynn cried. "I can't run away! I won't! I'm not a coward!" she was on the verge of tears.

Luna screamed at Lynn to get her to shut up and then, she spoke to her softly. "Please… don't die out here. We want you to be with us… with everyone…together."

Lynn understood what she meant and stopped struggling. She knew it was hopeless to keep fighting. Nothing was going to stop the greens, now. They outnumbered the kids fifty to one, and that was just an optimistic estimate.

They all ran back to the school as fast as they could, to what was most likely going to be their final resting place.

 **20.**

Lincoln and his younger siblings could hear the explosions reverberating through the walls of the school as they carried Clyde to the foyer of the school where Sanjay and the others would be.

"What's that sound?" Lola asked, worriedly and she grabbed Lincoln's hand.

"I don't know?" he said, trying his best not to sound scared. "Just keep going."

They eventually passed the door to the closet they were hiding in when a bunch of kids ran out.

Penelope walked out still holding Lily and went over to Lincoln.

"What happened?" He asked when suddenly, he smelt it. Lily had pooped in her diaper.

Penelope was about to hand Lily over to him when she spotted Clyde and asked what happened.

Lincoln told her, and it looked like she was going to cry once he was finished.

"Lucy, take Lily from her, please," He asked his younger sister, who did as she was told.

Then Lincoln felt something pawing at his leg. He looked down to see his dog Charles looking at him with worried eyes like even he could tell that something was wrong. Lincoln didn't say anything, and they continued down the halls.

They all eventually reached the foyer to see several other kids with injuries in there as well. Lincoln laid Clyde down and went to go look for Sanjay for help.

When he returned with the wannabe doctor Sanjay asked what the putrid smell was.

Lincoln sighed and asked Lana to take off Lily's diaper and throw it out. In the meantime, Sanjay studied Clyde's wound and swore.

Blood was beginning to seep from Clyde's ears, now.

Lincoln was used to seeing blood gush from Clyde's nose, but seeing it pour from his ears was a completely different story.

"Help him!" Lincoln urged.

Sanjay studied Clyde for a few more seconds and finally looked at Lincoln with a hopeless expression.

"There's nothing I can do."

It felt as though Lincoln had been punched in the gut, and in the heart. Lucy, Lana and Lola all gasped.

"W-what?" Lincoln's voice trembled.

"I'm sorry Lincoln, but bloods coming out of his ear, I can treat a cut or a small wound, but something like this is beyond my knowledge."

Lincoln stammered, trying to speak in a coherent sentence. Then Sanjay pointed to where Lincoln told him Clyde had been hit with a brick.

"Do you see where he was struck?" He was referring to Clyde's temple, where blood was continuing to gush out. "That's the thinnest part of the skull and there's a major artery behind it. It looks like it's been severed. It's hopeless."

"Boo-boo?" Lily said, as Lana cradled her in her arms, the baby was no longer wearing a diaper and apparently could sense the tense atmosphere as well.

Charles the dog whines as well.

"What? No, please!" Lincoln begged. "Me and him have been through hell and back. He can't die. Not like this."

"I'm sorry," Sanjay said. "All you can do now is use what little time he has left to say goodbye," and with that Sanjay got up and left them.

By this time all of Lincoln's younger sisters were crying while Lincoln tried his best to fight back tears. Then he heard Clyde speak.

"L-Lincoln..." his friends voice came out in a hoarse whisper.

Lincoln leaned in and took one of his friend's hands in his.

"What? What is it, buddy?"

"Are…you're sister's okay?"

Lincoln nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, they're all right." He turned and his younger sisters all stepped up.

Lana spoke up. "Clyde, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If I didn't go up to the roof…" She began to sob even harder now.

"Don't blame yourself," Clyde told her. "None if this is your fault. I chose to follow you to the roof… and I'd do it again."

Lana sniffed. "Do you remember the time I was stuck in that tree and you saved me, despite the fact that you were afraid of heights?"

Clyde smiled, to signify that he remembered.

Lincoln smiled too. His couldn't have asked for a better friend. He was glad he ran into him that tepid Halloween night, six years ago.

He was chasing after Lynn and ended up bumping into him, giving him a bloody nose. Lincoln, willing to lend a helping hand, let him use the cape of his Ace Savvy costume to press against his nose.

Now, however, there was nothing Lincoln could do to help his best friend, other than be there for him in his last moments.

* * *

The older Loud siblings ran into the school and didn't have to look too hard to see their younger siblings.

Lola cried out their names and rushed over to them, jumping into Luna's arms, sobbing.

Luna patted the back of her head and gave her words of reassurance as she, Luan and Lynn walked over to the rest of their siblings.

Lucy, Lana and Lily joined in the embrace and then the older siblings saw Lincoln. He looked happy to see them, but there also seemed to be hurt in his eyes.

They then saw that Lincoln's shirt was stained with blood, and that he was kneeling next to an injured Clyde.

"What happened?" Luna asked.

But Lana spoke up before Lincoln could say anything. She told them about how she went to the roof and managed to kill Grease Monkey and about Brick hurting Clyde and how Lincoln managed to kill Brick.

The older Loud siblings looked upset with their younger siblings but were just glad that they were okay.

"So, what's happening out there?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Lola said. "What's was with all that noise? And what about the grown-ups?"

The older siblings all looked at each other as the doors to the school were closed and locked. The room was once again lit up only by a few candles and battery powered lanterns.

"What's going on?" Lola said. "Did we win?"

Before her three oldest siblings could say anything. There was a heavy thud against the door as the first of the greens reached it. Then the sound of several hands beating against the door filled the entire foyer.

Several older kids began to yell and swear as all the little kids began to scream and cry.

"They're going to get in!" Lola cried.

Luna held the little blonde closer to her and then walked over to Lincoln and sat next to him. Drawing Lily closer to her in the process.

Then Luan put a hand on Lucy's shoulder. Offered the little goth girl a smile and led her next to Luna.

The Lynn gently grabbed Lana by the hand and led her next to Luan.

They were all now sitting, huddled together like the time they were hiding in the basement when that tornado roared past their house.

"What are we going to do?" Lana asked, tearfully.

Lynn shushed her and hugged her close.

"Are they going to get in?" Lucy asked Luan.

Luan rubbed her hand against Lucy's cheek. Wiping sweat away.

"Don't sweat it," Luan told her, with a soft giggle.

"I'm scared," Lola sobbed.

Luna patted her and wiped her cheeks. "No more tears, sis."

Then, the greens began to tear at the boards that were nailed against the window frames. Several kids used spears to beat the grown-ups away, but it had little effect. All the while, the beating on the doors became more aggressive causing the double doors to rattle violently.

Stan was still knelt next to Mary, whose cheek was all stitched up now. Not that it mattered at this point. Matt was next to her, holding her hand and crying. At that moment Stan wondered about his sister, Sally. He pondered which was worse: being cut in half or being torn limb from limb.

Cooper just leant his back against the wall, waiting for the inevitable.

Maggie sat close to Luan, with her knees drawn to her chest. She closed her eyes and let the tears flow.

Sam hugged her brother, Simon tight. Telling him that she'd protect him no matter what.

Brian Allen, the smartest kid in Royal Woods, had no idea what to do.

Sanjay stood next to Eve, the girl who was the doctor at the middle school. Both of them were hoping that being ripped apart wouldn't hurt as much as they thought it would.

Lexi stood next to Norman who was sitting and crying. She told him that Ethan was dead. But she wasn't sure if he was crying over him, or the fact that they were all about to die.

Brock stood next to Aubrey. She grabbed his hand and they both looked at each other, then he looked at his cousin, Gage. Who was crying. Brock wished he had a camera to take a picture. He then heard heavy banging coming down the hall. Most likely from the other end of the school. He knew that the sounds had to be Luan's traps going off. Which could only mean one thing: The adults had gotten into the school.

Shade took out a joint and lit it. Then inhaled deeply and prayed. _Lord, give me the strength and wit to shout 'choke on it' as I'm being ripped apart and eaten._

They all waited. Accepting their fates. There was no way out. Nothing was going to save them.

 **21.**

Speck ran and ran and ran. He'd turned around so many corners that he was getting dizzy. He'd heard of alligators living in the sewers- but he'd never thought grown-ups residing in the sewers would be a thing. But of course, things change.

He wasn't sure how many greens were after him, and he didn't want to find out. He just needed to get the hell out of here.

Miracle of miracles. He finally spotted some hinges he could use to climb. He jumped and climbed like as fast as he could like a monkey on crack. He could hear the adults below him growling, grunting and hissing.

Speck was safe. Grown-ups couldn't climb as far as he knew. He then reached a manhole cover and shoved it open and aside as he climbed out into the bright, morning light.

He looked around and then saw the school several yards away. He was behind enemy lines. It was time to find the person responsible for this horde. He placed the lid back on the sewer hole and began to creep forward.

The closer he got to the school, the louder the sound of the army of greens grew. It wasn't as loud as before, but there still had to be several hundred greens. He noticed smoke rising in the air. Something must've been set on fire.

He crept on, trying to spot any adult that looked out of the ordinary. Whoever was responsible for this horde had to be close. They just had to.

He took out his gun as he got closer. The stench of death was beginning to become prevalent. Speck wondered if there were still any kid left.

There had to be, or else the army would've moved on. That's when he saw the army had completely surrounded the school. Meaning there still had to be kids in there, with no way out. They must be scared shitless.

Speck thought back to when he saw The Tower's small army surround the church that one time. He knew those adults would get in eventually.

He had to hurry. He had to end this once and for all.

Closer...closer…closer…

Where are you, you son of a bitch? (or bitches)

Speck's eyes scanned the area before him. He was creeping as fast as he could. The stakes were high. Every second counted. He imagined all the kids in the school hiding, scared. Needing a miracle.

And it's looks like that miracle was going to happen. Because Speck finally spotted the grown-up who had to be responsible for this army.

It was man, maybe in his early forties, whose skin looked fair and white, unlike all the other adults whose skins were mossy green. Speck didn't know why that was, but he knew it had to mean something.

Next to him was another, older looking man, whose skin was green like the other adults. He wasn't as tall as the other man and had dark hair and dark clothing.

He had evil written all over him. The thing was- he kept looking over to the man whose skin wasn't green, as if he were answering to him. It was the same look he saw the other greens give the Tower when they were collecting bodies for _him_.

No doubt about it. _He_ was the man in charge.

Speck's heart-rate began to increase, and he got tunnel vision. It was a sensation he was familiar with. Every time he and his dad went hunting and spotted a prey.

Speck tried desperately to control his breathing as he shuffled towards the men. Eventually creeping up to a bush to hide behind. He took aim with his pistol.

This. Ends. Now.

 **22.**

It was over, Chris thought. They'd won, just like they always did. The kids put up one hell of a fight, he gave them that. But in the end, they just ended up fleeing back into the school, like a kid hiding under the covers from the monster under their bed.

It's funny. Parents always told their kids that there were no such things as monsters. Well, looks like they were wrong. Not only were monsters real; _They_ were the monsters.

Chris turned to Crony. "I don't want to jinx myself, but I'd say we won this battle, too."

Crony smiled his creepy smile. _Looks like you have._

Then Crony's face exploded, and he fell backwards.

Chris just stood there, dumbfounded. Staring at the face of his second in command. Blood began to gush from the back of his head and his face was frozen in that creepy smile.

He looked back to where ever the person responsible for killing Crony could've been and saw a kid hiding behind a bush, aiming something at him.

A gun.

Shit. How could he have been so foolish.

Chris just stood frozen, completely forgetting that he too, had a gun.

Then he saw several bright flashes come from the barrel of the gun and felt a series of rapid blows strike him first in the stomach and then they slowly rose to his chest.

Chris then fell back and just lied there, completely stunned. Then the pain began to arrive, as a puddle of his own blood began to form around him. He couldn't scream all he could do was use his mind to call out to all the other adults.

 _Help! Help, I'm dying!_

Soon, several adults began to surround him and look down at him like he was nothing more than roadkill in the middle of a street. Probably because he was about to be.

 _Don't just stand there you fucking shitbags! Help me!_

But there was nothing the other adults could do. They weren't doctors. They were just mindless drones.

Chris' vision began to blur, and he was descending into darkness.

 _No, this can't be happening. I don't deserve this. I went to war for this country. I've made so many sacrifices. I went through hell. I can't die just because I was shot by some kid._

He fought back the darkness and saw all the faces of the adults began to transform and morph into the faces of people he knew from his days in the army. They were members from his platoon.

 _No, it can't be. You're all dead. I ate all of you._ Then he saw the face of a little girl. _I ate you too. What are you doing here? Your bones should be buried in the middle of a fucking desert somewhere in the Middle East._

Chris began to regret everything he had ever done. Why did he heave to join the military? If he didn't do that, then he never would've been on that helicopter when it was shot down. They were trying to rescue some civilians from some random extremist group when they tried to evac, the chopper Chris was riding on was shot down and he and a little girl were the only ones who weren't injured.

They were trapped in the middle of the desert and Chris was hungry. He killed his fellow troops who were badly injured and as good as dead and feasted on their bodies. He tried to share the food with the little girl, but she refused, so Chris just ended up killing her and eating her too.

Once the food ran out he buried their bodies and wandered the desert for miles and miles. Just when he thought it was over, he was found and rescued. He told other officers that the enemy killed his fellow soldiers.

The helicopter he was riding in was never found, so he was in the clear. No one was ever going to find out about his dirty little secret. He even went to his fellow soldier's funerals and cried with their families. He received his medals and was honorably discharged from the military. Then he got a job at some random retail store where he worked until the day the world changed.

He just stared at the faces of his victims until his vision blurred and darkened again.

He fought it again and when they came back into view, they were no longer the bodies of people he used to know. They were werewolves (or dogmen).

Angry, scowling and growling.

 _Not like this…_

The werewolves then pounced on Chris and began to dig into him and devour him.

Chris could still feel everything. Every bite, rip and tear. But he was too weak to scream.

It then felt like he was descending, like the hands of all his victims were dragging him away.

Dragging him straight to Hell.

 _Not like this…_

 **23.**

Speck was sprinting back to the school. He could barely contain his excitement. He'd seen everything. He'd seen the adults shuffle away from the school in droves and surround the man. Then they all just stood around him at first. Then they began to eat him.

It felt like the tide had turned. With no one to control the army. The adults would be dumb and powerless. All Speck had to do now was get back into the school.

He knew that the front entrance of the school would be locked, so he would have to try the back since it looked like a few adults had gotten in. He waited for the last of the greens to exit and then went in.

As he entered, the first thing he notices were dead bodies of greens, taken out by traps. Most likely set up by that one girl called Luan.

Several greens had been impaled by sharp spears. Others had been crushed by fallen lockers and textbooks placed in large sacks.

Speck was careful not to trigger anymore traps. Luckily, he had a good pair of eyes on him and noticed every little tripwire, and possible trigger.

As soon as he was out of that hallway he hastily made his way to where he could hear voices. All the kids were in the foyer.

* * *

One moment, the adults were banging on doors, and tearing away the pieces of plywood. The next, they were gone.

Everyone was confused by it.

Again, the Loud sisters were reminded of the time a tornado passed by their house. One moment, it felt like the world was ending, and the next, peace and quiet.

They could hear the shuffling of feet moving away. Brock looked out through the wooden boards.

"I don't understand, they're walking away."

Everyone began to speak at once. Some bombarding Brock with questions. While other went up to the boards to take a peek for themselves.

"What's going on?" Lola asked, to none of her siblings in particular.

Luna responded with a shrug and said, "Beats me, I'm just as in the dark as you are."

Meanwhile, in Luan's head she thought of how fitting it was to use the phrase _in the dark,_ seeing as though they were all almost surrounded by darkness.

Then a voice spoke up above the rest.

"I did it!"

Everyone jumped and looked back to see a kid at the other end of the foyer making his way over.

"Speck?" Stan recognized his friend. "Where the heck have you been?"

"Didn't you hear me? I said I did it."

"Did what?"

"I killed him, the adult who was responsible for this hoard. I shot him multiple times and watched as the other adults feasted on him."

Now several kids began to bombard Speck with questions, but he just ignored them and made his way to the double doors at the front of the foyer. Stan could see a crazed look in his eyes. He then tried to open the doors, but they were locked.

"What are you doing?" Brock asked. "We can't go out there."

"Yes, we can," Speck told him. "I already told you, I took out the leader to this group and now these grown-ups don't have a leader. No one's commanding them. They're blind. Now give me the keys so I can remove these chains and unlock the door."

Brock hesitated at first. But Speck seized his uncertainty and swiped the keys from him.

"HEY!"

With lightning speed Speck unlocked the doors and opened them. Filling the room with warm, morning light.

Other kids began to scream and protest. Expecting greens to storm the building. But nothing happened.

Speck turned back to face the small crowd. "Don't worry. Like I said- they're not going to do anything. Now come on, we need to strike while the iron is hot." He hurried over to the weapons rack that still had plenty of weapons and picked up a spiked club. "Remember what Kevin from Home Alone 2 said, _'Don't you know a kid always wins against two idiots?'_ Well, imagine what fifty kids can do against five hundred idiots." He wasn't sure if those numbers where correct, he was just trying to make his point. He then stormed out of the building, leaving all the kids stunned and confused.

"What should we do?" Aubrey asked Brock.

Brock held up his nail bat. "I don't know about you, but I'm feeling quite invigorated." He too, ran out of the building to follow Speck. Not before taking one last glance at everyone and telling them to follow him.

Everyone still stood around. Then Lexi gripped her axe and ran back outside. Prompting a few other kids from her group to follow.

The Loud siblings all looked at each other.

"What should we do?" Luan asked.

"I know what I'm doing," Lynn said. She gently placed Lana aside then she shot up and charged outside with her spiked club.

Luna called after her, but the athletic girl ignored her and disappeared through the doors.

The musician swore and then turned back to Lincoln. "Keep an eye on the others, please."

Lincoln nodded.

Luna then stood up and so did Luan. "I'm coming too."

Maggie and Cooper were ready to charge into battle, too. They rearmed themselves and ran back outside

At the other end of the foyer, Stan was wanting some revenge as well. He turned back to Mary and her brother Matt. Mary was beginning to stir.

Stan then saw Norman sitting a few feet away from them, still crying. Stan went over and had to lift the crying boy to his feet to lead him over to Mary.

"Keep an eye on her." He told him. it wasn't a question.

Norman just sniffed and nodded.

Stan knelt next to Mary, the most important person in his life and said goodbye for the moment. Then he picked up his mace, the second most important thing in his life and hurried outside.

Shade watched everyone run back outside and took another puff of his joint. "Well, well, well, how the turntables…" he then noticed Mary Jane standing next to him, with her arms crossed.

 _Aren't you going to go out there, too?_ She asked.

Shade sighed. "All right."

* * *

Speck reached the closest adult, who still had his back turned to the school just like every other green and struck him hard.

The adult went down with little resistance.

Speck then took out another adult, then another one, then another.

It was like hitting a bunch of mannequins at first. Then the greens began to become aware of the commotion and turned back on the kids. None of them were wielding weapons anymore. They were too stupid to comprehend holding something. A lot of them held out their hands and tried to grab the kids who began to beat them down. But they were like the zombies from round one of Call of Duty: Zombies- slow and weak.

Soon, all the fighters from the school were outside, beating down the defenseless horde. Some of the younger kids from the school even left the building to watch the massacre. A lot of them with huge dumb grins on their faces.

Luna had gotten another axe and was chopping down adults, again. Only this time it was like chopping down saplings.

Luan had a mad grin on her face. She was back to no longer being scared. She struck an adult in the head with her club.

"That's using the ol' noggin," she joked.

Lynn was going to town on the adults like they were nothing more than punching dummies.

At this point it was clear to everyone that they were going to win. Several kids began to get cocky and took their time killing the adults. Going for hits that wouldn't immediately kill them. Some chopped off limbs and beat them with it.

Brock had to tell everyone not to slow down. The sooner they beat this horde, the better.

As Luna continued to chop at heads, she heard a kid next to her speak.

"Oh, God! I recognized that one, his name was Bob."

Luna began to feel bad for the adults. It wasn't their fault they were like this. But at the same time, they showed the kids no mercy, so why should they? She then wondered if she'd ever see any familiar faces and as soon as she thought that she saw an older looking adult holding a pillow. She recognized him as her Journalism teacher, Mr. Sunderland.

"Sorry Mr. S," she said as she swung her axe and put him out of his misery.

Then, the moment they all had been trying to accomplish had finally arrived.

The last grown-ups body hit the ground.

It was over. They won.

They all studied the ground, putting down a few adults who still writhed on the ground.

One kid began to laugh maniacally and then another one began to hoot and holler.

"Fuck yes!" another kid shouted.

Luna looked around at her siblings. They were all covered in the blood. But that didn't stop them from smiling.

"We did it!" she shouted. "We are the champions!"

They all began to laugh and embraced each other. Then they began to make their way back to the school.

Luan glanced over and saw Maggie walking beside her. The dark-haired girl looked over at the comedian. Luan stopped and smiled at her, which made her stop too.

"Thanks," the comedian said.

A small smile crept up Maggie's face and then Luan pecked her on the cheek.

Maggie was stunned momentarily and slowly brought a hand up to the spot. Where Luan kissed her. Then she smiled a big goofy smile. And walked back with Luan hand in hand.

"This was a terrible first date, though" Luan said and they both laughed.

As they continued to walk Lynn noticed Cooper looking around, then he spotted her and hurried over with a smile on his face.

"What?" Lynn asked.

"Nothing," he said, "It's just that, I never _did_ get that game of basketball."

Lynn suddenly remembered how Cooper had challenged her to a game of one-on-one.

She smiled and said, "It's a date."

Cooper's smile faltered, and he looked nervous. "What?"

"It's just a figure of speech," Lynn said in a mocking tone.

The Loud siblings then reached the school, and in another great coincidence, Luna bumped into Sam.

"Oh…uh, hi," Luna said, as if everything in the last hour didn't just happen.

"Hey," Sam said, with a soft smile. "Looks like we've got some time to jam together, now."

Luna smiled. "I've got nothing but time."

* * *

Back outside, Brock wandered around, putting down any adult that showed any signs of life. Then he spotted several adults who were struggling to get out from underneath a tall adult with an axe stuck in his head.

"You must be the Tower," Brock said to the body as he studied it. "Gosh, I'd hate to meet the person that did this to you."

"Yeah, you would." A voice behind him said.

Brock turned to see Joey emerging from a pile of dead bodies.

A few kids standing around gasped as Joey stood tall amongst the bodies. He then went over to The Tower and removed his axe. Then shuffled over and picked up a spear.

"This was Duke's spear," Joey said, coldly.

It was hard to understand what Joey was saying since he'd lost his two front teeth, but Brock heard him.

"I…I'm sorry," was all he could think to say.

"I am too," Joey responded, and then he too, slowly walked back towards the school.

Shade looked around and studied the dead bodies. He then looked back to M.J.

 _Looks like things might go back to normal, now,_ she said.

Shade just shook his head. "Things are never going to go back to normal."

Stan and Speck walked back to the school.

"I just can't believe we did it," Stan said. "And that you were able to sneak through the sewers and kill the adult who led that freaking army."

Speck nodded. "What's weird is that his skin wasn't green like the other adults. He looked normal."

"I wonder why that was?"

Speck shrugged. "There are still so many questions that I feel are left unanswered."

"Do we even want those questions answered?"

"Maybe…"

Stan shrugged. "We'll worry about that later, right now I just want to relax."

Stan and Speck finally walked back into the school and Stan checked on Mary, whose brother hadn't left her side. Stan reached and took her hand in his, then she squeezed his hand.

For the first time in a while, Stan genuinely smiled.

A few feet away Clyde was taking his lasts breaths, surrounded by Lincoln and all his sisters.

"We did it Clyde," Lincoln said, still holding his best friends hand. "We won."

Clyde gave a weak smile. "That's great, man."

Lola sniffed, "We're never going to forget you, Clyde." And all the other Loud sisters agreed.

"Thank you for always being there for us." Lana also said.

"You'll always be apart of our family," Luna told him.

Clyde nodded weakly and with his last ounce of life he turned to Lincoln and said, "Clincoln McCloud forever."

Lincoln nodded. "Clincoln McCloud forever."

He gave his friends hand a firm squeeze and then he felt his friends grip loosen.

Lincoln held his friends hand to his forehead and began to weep. His sisters then all embraced him and wept too.

Hopefully for the last time.

* * *

Back outside the school Brock stood and looked out at the mass of bodies He turned and looked at some of the kids who stood around him. He saw his cousin Gage, who was just sitting down crying for some reason. As well as Grant and his younger siblings. The farm boy turned and saw Brock looking at him, then grabbed his sibling's hands and walked away.

Aubrey then approached him. "Looks like we've got some cleaning up to do," she said.

"Yeah, we do," Brock responded. "But first- I need a shower."

* * *

 **THE ENEMY IS DEFEATED... FOR NOW**

* * *

 **EPILOGUE  
**

 _Several weeks later…_

Cornelius Tucker stood on the roof of the school like he always did. He was exhausted. He and everyone else had spent weeks trying to burn all the dead bodies of adults and bury the remains of their fellow kids. While others went out and scavenged for supplies. Luckily all the stores still had tons of food since the disease had struck so suddenly. No one was able to loot anything, so the stores were untouched. Except for a few lone adults here and there. But they were easily taken care of.

The world was safe. The kids were free to roam the streets again. It was time to rebuild society.

Tucker's dream of seeing people walk through these streets, living their lives would someday become a reality.

But not today.

Today he just stood and stared into the clear starry night.

Then he heard thunder.

That's weird. From what he could tell, there were no clouds in the night sky, no flashes of lightning in the distance.

Then the rumbling sound grew louder and louder.

Tucker scanned the horizon and saw something long and massive approaching. He watched as it got closer.

"No way," he said out loud. "It can't be…"

He ran back into the school to alert the others.

Soon, all the big kids were on the front lawn of the school while the younger kids looked on from inside.

Then the massive, approaching object was right in front of the school. Everyone could see what it was.

A massive semi-truck pulling a large trailer behind it.

It slowed and stopped as soon as was in front of the school and just sat there for a while. The trucks loud engine droning on and on

Eventually Brock shouted to whoever was driving the truck.

"Show yourself!" He tried to sound big and intimidating, but he could hardly be heard over the engine.

Then the truck shut off and the night was thrown back into an eerie silence.

After a few more seconds the door to the tractor unit opened and everyone raised their weapons.

Then a kid stepped out. He was a boy who had fair skin and dark hair. As well as a kind face. He looked to be sixteen, which they all hoped wasn't the case and that he was just older than he looked.

Back inside the school Lincoln and his younger siblings all stood in front of a window and watched the bizarre scene.

"What's going on Lincoln?" Lola asked. She and her other sister were holding on to their older brother.

"I don't know?" he said, silently shushing his younger sister and placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Back outside Brock demanded that the kid tell them who he was, pointing his nail bat at him.

The kid smiled and held his hands up. "Don't worry about me, I come in piece."

"For your sake that better be true. Now tell us your name and why you're here and where you came from and where you found _that_ thing."

"It's kind of a long story," The boy said.

"We got time," Brock said back.

The boy's smile grew wider. "We'll get to where I came from in a moment, for now- my name is Jack Wright, I stumbled upon this truck that has something in it that could be of some use, I just needed some people to share it with to help them out, and it looks like you guys could use some help."

Jack held his smile as all the kids in front of Royal Woods elementary looked at each other in confusion.

Things were definitely about to change, whether it was for the better was yet to be seen.

* * *

 **THE DOOM  
**

 _Several hours later…_

 _Several miles away…_

A sixteen-year-old boy named Jason Woods was staring up into the starry night sky.

He always loved stargazing. Staring up into the vast beyond of space, wondering what was out there. It was one of the few things a person could still do in this messed up world.

Several yards away from him, a school building was burning to the ground. While several yards in another direction, members of his group were taking out their pent-up anger and aggression on a poor, unfortunate teenage girl. While several yards in another direction, adults were feasting on the corpses of dead kids.

Jason and his crew felt truly blessed that they had the powers to order adults around. Before the world went mad, it had always been the other way around; they had to take orders from adults.

Well not anymore. The world had changed, it had given them a gift. A gift they could use to take revenge on this unjust world.

Jason noticed that one kid was standing several yards away from the action. He went over to the boy and put an arm around him.

"What's wrong, Logan, don't ya want in on that?" he pointed to the girl who, at the moment, was being raped by several other teens at once.

Logan shook his head. "No thanks, I'm not into sloppy one hundred and seconds."

Jason could sense that something else was on the kid's mind. Something he didn't like.

"Remember our motto," Jason told him.

"No More Heroes," Logan simply said.

"Right, _No More Heroes._ Ya don't have to participate right now, but there will come a time when you'll have to. So, don't get soft. That's how ya ended up here in the first place. Ya feel me?"

Logan nodded, and Jason patted him on the shoulder and smiled.

Jason then made his way over to the girl. Passing a few members of his group: There was another sixteen-year-old, a girl named Lydia; she was second in command, no one messed with her.

There was also an Asian kid named Kasho Hirozaki; he just stood completely still holding his katana in it's sheath, he was the only kid in their group who kind of intimidated Jason, mostly because he never said a word.

He then passed a kid whose name was Jeffy; he wore a blue bicycle helmet, yellow shirt, blue jeans, and for some reason, a diaper on the outside of his pants. He just stood there with his mouth slightly open, smacking his crotch. Several kids had asked him why he did that, but every time he just responded by saying, 'I don't even know?'

Finally, he reached the girl just as the last few kids were finishing up on her. They all pulled up their pants and walked away. Only one kid remained, a boy who was writing in his notebook. He was always writing. He'd write about anything. A lot of his stories mostly involved sex and other sick things- like torture.

He wore a leather jacket over a white t-shirt and leather pants and brown shoes. He also had an American flag tied around his neck like a cape, thus earning him the nickname: Flaggy.

That and he ended up in youth jail for killing someone by strangling with a flag.

"Are ya almost done, Flaggy?" Jason asked the boy.

"Almost," Flaggy was taking in every last detail of the beat-up girl, so he could have a better reference for when he wrote stories about rape.

"Done," He closed the notebook and put it in his backpack with all his other notebooks and walked away.

Jason then studied the girl who was cover in an hours' worth of cuts, bruises, and semen. Her eyes were red from crying, but there weren't any visible tears.

"You've run out of tears, haven't ya?"

The girl was too weak to even respond, all that came out was a wet, gurgled sob.

"Don't worry," he said. "I know how that feels."

He then took out a machete, raised it, and brought it down on the girl. Ending her misery.

He walked away as adults swarmed the body to devour it. They didn't care that it was covered in cum.

"Come on everyone," he shouted. "We've still got a long way to go."

He walked at the front of the group of over one hundred, crazy, vicious and bloodthirsty teens. All hellbent on destruction. With only one goal in mind: kill everyone.

* * *

 **THE DOOM MARCHES ON**

* * *

 _Thank you all for reading this story. The story isn't over yet, but I'm going to have to take a break now. I really hate to take a break after making you wait longer than usual for this chapter. But I need some time to think about the next chapters. Like I said, I already know what's going to happen next. I just need to think of more scenes if you get what I'm saying._

 _In the mean time, I highly recommend reading **THE ENEMY** series if you haven't already._

 _Anyway, stay tuned for part 1 of phase V: The Doom._


	14. A New Beginning

**I was originally going to post this chapter on December 3rd which is the one-year anniversary of when I published the first chapter of this story, but then I decided that you guys have waited long enough. (Two days early? How generous.)**

 **Also, will the guest who posted _Jeffy is the god Zeke has been talking about_ please make yourself known because that is the funniest review I have ever seen.**

 **Also, thanks for the 17k views.**

 **By the way, I changed the rating of this story back to T. I decided that there won't be any _serious_ sexual content.**

* * *

 **The Doom**

 **Chapter 1: A New Beginning.**

* * *

 _Several months before the Blast._

Fifteen-year-old Kyle Murdoch had been planning it for months. Standing tall and proud over all the guns he'd acquired, no hint of emotion on his face. He was going to make every other school shooting look like a fucking joke. He couldn't wait to see all the kids run around like baby chicks being chased by a hungry fox. He couldn't wait to see the looks on their stupid faces as they bled to death, the utter disbelief at knowing that they were going to die, and Kyle was the one responsible for their eventual departure from this stupid fucking planet.

Kyle didn't really have a reason for planning the dastardly deed. No one picked on him, no one had ever said anything mean to him, no one even paid him any attention (he just felt like doing it). Well, come tomorrow he was going to be all they thought about.

The teen then gathered the weapons and hid them under his bed, out of sight. Only he'd know they were there. Then he crawled into bed without a care in the world. He didn't even care if he lived or died tomorrow, his main goal was just to kill and maim as many nerds, jocks, sluts and teachers as possible tomorrow.

He closed his eyes and was out in a matter of minutes. He didn't dream, only darkness surrounded his mind.

Then, a light began to fill his dark vision, shining through his eyelids. At first, he thought it was the sun shining through his window.

Kyle's heart skipped a beat. Was it time to get up? Time to wreak havoc on this shitty town?

Nope.

He slowly opened his eyes to find that the light belonged to flashlight, a flashlight attached to a gun that kind of reminded him of an MP5

Kyle was confused at first, but as his mind slowly began to defog, he realized what was happening. Beyond the light was a dark figure wearing a helmet and some kind of tactical outfit.

The jig was up. Someone had snitched on him and called the police. His planned was ruined.

As he was led away in handcuffs, passed his upset (and scared) parents, he swore he'd get revenge. Shooting up a school was too easy. He knew he'd end up to going to some kind of prison. God help this miserable world should he ever escape. Now, he didn't just want to kill his classmates, he wanted to kill everyone.

* * *

 _A few more weeks after The Clash._

The clear and crisp blue sky was a stark contrast to the dirty, wrecked, destruction-ridden town that was once calm, quiet and peaceful. Now, it looked like a tornado had gone through it. Cars were overturned, windows were shattered, and some buildings had burnt down, leaving charred remains that once served a purpose; be they banks, restaurants, offices, family fun centers. They used to be someone's livelihood. They used to be places people would go to hang out at and have fun and live their lives. Now they were abandoned and forlorn. Begging the question that if things turned back to normal – whenever that would be, (normal meaning no more killer adults) what would become of these places? Would they be nothing more than monuments leftover from when life was simple? When kids didn't have to fight the people that built these places. The people who loved them and told them that they would always protect them.

That was a question every kid wondered if they'd even live long enough to see.

Currently the only sound in Royal Woods was the sound of small footsteps coming from a small group of ten kids and the caws of crows that hovered in the air like a bad omen. Heck, everything was a bad omen: The dried bloodstains on the ground, the rotting bodies of the young and old, even the fact that the local Waffle House was closed… permanently.

One kid, however, failed to take notice. Instead he breathed in the air and exhaled like a person in an air freshener commercial sucking in air as though it were clean and not filled with death.

"Do you smell that? That's the smell of new beginnings," the boy said raising his arms level to his shoulders and turning to face the other kids who were with him.

"Are you sure it's not just your weed?" Another kid replied, sarcastically.

"I wish," he responded. "I ran out of that stuff weeks ago, now the only thing I can get high on is life."

A brown-haired, slightly short, but athletic girl at the head of the group shushed them. "You don't want to draw any of them out, do you?"

The kid shrugged. "They'd have shown their green, ugly faces by now. I think we're safe."

"For now," another kid who was also near the front of the group responded. "You can never be too certain."

"And you can never live your life constantly on edge over everything. Take a moment to smell the flowers." High-on-life kid responded.

"What flowers?" A random kid asked.

"I don't know. I'm sure they're around here somewhere. You just gotta maintain a positive attitude and keep searching."

"I wish I had your positive attitude, Shade," another boy at the front of the group who had a shaved head said.

The boy whose name was Shade Walker smiled. "The only person whose stopping you from getting that attitude is yourself, Brock."

Brock shrugged. "I gotta be constantly worried. Can't get too lax as a leader, you know. Even slightly lowering my guard can prove fatal. All it takes is one mistake to screw everything up."

"Is that really how you want to live, though?" Shade asked.

"If it means everyone else gets to, then yes."

A plastic bag scuttled across the ground, blown by the light breeze. Some kids stopped and froze when it first emerged but then chastised themselves once they realized they were nearly startled by something that was normally used to carry groceries.

"Brock's right," another kid spoke up, a kid wearing a brown, hoodless jacket and wielding a club that he'd made his weapon of choice after ditching his hammer that he was so fond of. No one knew his real name everyone just called him Speck. "All it takes is one of these things. One smart one to organize a group and launch an attack. If that happens, we might not be as lucky as last time."

"Well, they should know better than to fuck with us," the girl at the front of the group said without showing any emotion on her face – just pure determination. She was clutching a spiked club that kind of resembled a baseball bat and scanned the area, daring anything to jump out and attack her. Her name was Lynn Loud and at four feet, eleven inches; weighing in at a little over 100 lbs. she was not one to be messed with. After all, her brawn more than made up for her size, and if you messed with any of her siblings you'd be lucky to walk away with only a black eye and a few missing teeth. "All of us combined have probably killed more than the entire population Royal Woods."

Whether that was an exaggeration had yet to be seen. The fact remained though, they'd killed more than their fair share of grown-ups. More than they were comfortable with. One of the worst parts were the restless nights after they'd battled that large army of grown-ups. Every living soul in Royal Woods had pretty much been in a committed relationship with PTSD. The countless times kids had woken up screaming was evidence to that. Several kids decided to go sleep in different rooms of Royal Woods Elementary School because they couldn't take being woken up twenty times a night. There were a little more than fifty surviving kids in that school, none of them had decided to leave the school and go live somewhere else. They hadn't encountered a dangerous adult in weeks, just the occasional straggler. Even then, you couldn't be too careful around them. Even a near-dead shark will fight and bite to its last breath.

The group reached an intersection. Speck knew where they were, they were near his dad's hunting shop. Speck recalled when he'd been chased off by that large adult with the sledgehammer – The Tower, as he was called, and had been forced to abandon the shop and all the useful items that were still inside: guns, knives, food, hunting supplies. All gone because Speck had dropped the key and had been unable to find it the few times he'd returned here in the weeks following the battle with the large horde of greens, as the grown-ups were called. He figured it was gone forever. Maybe it was for the best, he didn't think he could go back and there and face his dad's corpse. Speck hoped no other kids had been forced to kill their parents.

"Heads up," someone said, and everyone looked to see a green straggling in the road. It looked more like a walker from the Walking Dead than one of the intelligent greens that could move agilely and wield weapons, which was a good sign.

Lynn looked around. A lot of the kids seemed hesitant to approach the green, while others looked to her, as if she were solely responsible for taking it out after what she'd said a few moments ago. She then met her older sister Luna's gaze. She was looking at her expectantly as well, with the hint of a smirk at the corners of her mouth. Luna was only with the group because Lynn had eagerly agreed to go with all the volunteers out into the danger zone to look for supplies, too. Lynn may have been tougher and stronger, but Luna was still her older sister and anytime she went outside, her older sister was certain to be by her side just as she had a few weeks ago when Brock led that expedition to the farm. She was the only sibling that was with her at the moment, as the others were back at the school. Safe and sound.

"Well?" Luna said, her grin was evident now on her freckled, slightly dirty face. It had been days since her – or anyone – had access to a decent shower. The elementary school they'd stayed at didn't have any showers and if someone was really desperate to clean themselves, they'd have to use water from a sink, or go to one of the nearby houses to try their showers, and no one was that frantic. Her dark-brown hair had also grown out of its pixie cut stage, thus, giving it the appearance of a teenage boy from either the late 1970's or the early 80's.

Lynn shrugged. "Don't mind if I do," she said, and began to walk up to the green like a person going up to bat during a baseball game.

"Careful," Brock said, as the young jock hastily, yet cautiously made her way over to the adult. If she heard him, she didn't acknowledge it.

The green slowly turned to her, it was a scrawny male with a long beard and overalls. There was no urgency in its movement, as if it were turning to an unseen noise rather than to someone who was about to bash its head in.

Lynn readied herself and the green lowered its head and reached out towards her, lunging at a snail's pace. She swung the bat as hard as she could and sent the green spiraling away.

"Home run!" she yelled. Everyone shushed her, but she ignored them and walked briskly back towards them. "What? Afraid I might attract more of them?"

"Yes," everyone said.

She smiled. "Good."

"This isn't a game, Lynn," Brock said, sternly.

Lynn shrugged again. "Whatever you say."

Brock sighed and told everyone to continue on. They were almost to their destination.

Luna put a hand on Lynn's shoulder. "Nice battin' sis."

Lynn smiled. "It was nothing." Which was half true. Sure, these things were no longer human, but maybe Brock was right; this wasn't a game, these things used to be human. Lynn wondered how she'd feel if someone went up to her father and yelled _Fore!_ Before hitting him with a gold club, for example. She couldn't let herself get carried away, but at the same time, it was like a means of escape. Everyone had a coping mechanism, hers just happened to be treating everything like a game.

Her friend Cooper appeared beside her now, wielding a baseball bat with nails driven into it. He was wearing a red t-shirt, black basketball pants and white basketball sneakers that were brand new only a few months ago but were now stained dark gray from constant exposure to dirt, trash and blood. He had a smirk on his face.

"You come to complement my skills as well?" she asked, meeting him with a smirk of her own.

"Kind of," he said.

"Well…?"

"Good job."

"It was nothing," she repeated, like killing something with a club was no big dead. "It was like swatting a fly."

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk about," Cooper said. His tone changing, sounding slightly serious.

"Huh?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"Well," he began, "after all the things we've done and grown-ups we've killed… do you think things will ever go back to normal? Like… do you think it's all over?"

Lynn raised an eyebrow and turned to Luna who was listening in on their conversation. She had a trepid look on her face. The jock turned back to the black boy and said. "If I've learned anything from my thirteen years of being alive, it's that nothing truly ends. That our lives are a never ending series of seasons, years and sagas. As soon as one thing ends another begins. Be it a person or an event. We always gotta be prepared. This won't end until every last one of these greens are dead. Even if we manage to accomplish that, we're gonna have to work on rebuilding society. Think about how long it took humanity to get where it was; I'm talking machines, medicine and electronics. All that crap that made us top dog, separated us from the animals. At this point, we might as well be cavemen, because that's we're we are right now – okay, maybe not as far back as the stone age, because we still have tools and knowledge. But no adults to implement them. Just us kids."

"Dang, sis," Luna said. "That's rather profound of you."

Lynn shrugged. "Give me some more credit. I've matured pretty quickly these last few months."

Cooper spoke up again. "I just want this to be over with, y'know?" I want to focus on being a kid. I want to goof off, but it looks like that ain't gonna happen; not today, not tomorrow, not next week, not even next year. I'm going to have to make peace with the fact that my childhood innocence is over. I'm pretty much an adult now. No parents or teachers to tell me what to do. Seeing as though the disease affected everyone sixteen and older, I could very well be a senior citizen."

Lynn chuckled. "You don't look that old to me."

Cooper scoffed. "I feel like I've aged one hundred years over these past few weeks. I mean, how long has it been. One month? Two months? We could all be past the life average life expectancy now."

Lynn shook her head. "I don't plan on dying anytime soon."

* * *

Their destination began to come into view; the Royal Woods Supermarket which was called Super Mart. The parking lot was still filled with cars that once belonged to shoppers who were most likely going about their day, unaware that a meteor was about to change everything. None of the cars seemed useful. The kids wondered if they'd ever find out a way to make them useful again. That meteor rendered them useless and unable to work. The only thing they'd used cars for in the last month or so was making car bombs that played a huge part in defeating that horde a few weeks ago. Wow, no one could believe they were able to pull it off. The adults outnumbered the kids and almost had them beat, but the kids were smarter and had better weapons. No doubt if Speck hadn't killed the adult he claimed was in charge of the horde, none of them would be alive.

They were now standing in front of the doors to the supermarket. They were all shattered and glass littered the ground. There were dried spots of blood on the jagged shards and red footprints leading away from the doors. There were no footprints leading into the store so that had to mean it was safe. Right?

Luna and Lynn remembered the last time they were here. Lincoln had convinced their mom to let him do the shopping so he could buy cereal called Zombie Bran (zombie, heh heh) and when they all found out that he was going they decided to accompany him. The thing is, when a boy and nine of his sisters are involved, even something as simple as a trip to the grocery store can turn into an escapade. Lincoln was just trying to get some cereal, but his sisters just had to cause a commotion that ended up getting them all banned from the store.

Of course, they all felt bad that they'd prevented Lincoln from getting his Zombie Bran after he'd worked so hard to save enough money for it, that they all went out and got him some.

Standing back in front of the store, no adults in sight, it was nice knowing that there was no one to stop them from entering. Not even a vigilant store manager.

Brock banged his weapon, a metal baseball bat, against the metal frame of the once automatic doors. The sound reverberated through the eerily quiet store.

"PENIS!" Shade shouted, his voice echoing through the store as well.

Some kids shushed him, while others snickered.

"I guess it's empty," Brock said. He threw a glance over his shoulder at the others. He put up a tough and fearless front, but everyone knew that there was no way you could walk into a new, uncharted location without feeling a little nervous. It was light outside, but the store had plenty of dark places to hide.

He took out a flashlight and stepped through the automatic doors and the rest followed a few steps behind. He shone the lit flashlight all over the place, its white orb chasing the shadows away. Something didn't seem right about the place. Speck walked beside him.

"You notice something off about all this?" Brock asked the kid who was wearing a brown, hoodless jacket despite the fact that it was fairly warm outside.

"Yeah," Speck said. "Nothing's out of order." Despite the floors being stained with blood and some debris of clothing and bones, all the shelves were neatly stocked full of food, they expected the place to be picked clean, but instead, not a single item was out of place.

"This is weird, dude," Luna said. "Who would take the time to keep this place organized?"

"I don't know?" Brock said. "I'll bet it's because the disease struck in the blink of an eye. No one had a chance to loot it, or something like that."

It made sense. This was their first time back here since the world went crazy, which had to mean no one else had been here since the start as well. Why else would there not be any greens in sight? Even the one they did see looked like it hadn't eaten anything in quite a while.

"I say we get while the getting's good," Shade said. "There's no telling when we'll find a place this stacked again."

Brock agreed. He went over to a shopping cart rack and picked one out. "Everyone split into groups, get a cart fill it with as many non-perishables and whatever else we'll find useful and meet back here once it's full."

Everyone nodded and went about their business. The store was big, but it wasn't big enough that splitting into small groups would be _too_ dangerous.

Luna, Lynn and Cooper picked a cart to use among themselves and went over to an aisle near the end of the store, close to the produce section. The stench coming from the rotten meat was awful, but it wasn't the worst smell to ever fill their nostrils. That honor belonged to the smell that resulted in the culmination of hundreds, if not thousands of dead bodies that surrounded the school once the clash with the hordes of grown-ups had ended.

"What are we doing here?" Cooper asked.

"I don't know?" It was Lynn who answered. "I guess it's just an old habit. Whenever my mom would take me and my family here, I'd always go to the meat section. Gotta have that protein."

"Well it looks like it's gonna be a while until we have a chance to eat meat again," Cooper said, then he looked down, somberly. "It's gonna be a while until we get a chance to eat a lot of the foods we took for granted."

Lynn put her hands on her hips and nodded slowly.

A small group of three girls walked past them. "I don't know what you expect to find back here," one of them stopped and said. "It's rotten. Can't you tell?"

The trio met their gaze. "I know," Lynn said. "I just wanted to make sure."

"I don't mean to sound impudent," the girl went on, "but it's been a long time without electricity. Anyone with half a brain would know that all meat is long past it's sell-by date." She had a small smirk on her face by the end of the sentence that Lynn wanted to wipe off… with her fist.

The young jock held her gaze, the girl looked familiar, she tried to place her face.

"It's Stacey, right?" Luna asked.

The girl nodded.

Now Lynn remembered, this girl showed up at the high school when Brock and the rest saved them.

Luna continued, "Then what are _you_ doing back here?"

"I'm gonna go look in the backroom," she said. "There's bound to be lots of food back there."

"Well, maybe you should just go do that, okay? Don't worry about us." Now it was Luna who had the smallest of smirks on her face.

Stacey's face dropped. She looked like she wanted to say something else but instead tipped her head and went along with the other girls who were with her. Luna waited until the sound of the shopping cart Stacey was pushing was out of earshot before turning back to Lynn. "Is it me or does it feel like some people have it out for us?"

Lynn shrugged. "Don't let it bother you, people will always be hating."

"Why would Stacey have it out for you?" Cooper asked.

"People don't exactly hold us in high regard," Luna answered. "I wouldn't be surprised if someone told her about some of the things that had happened over the past few weeks, before Brock's group showed up."

Cooper began to wonder. Was she referring to the fact that her younger sister Lana had gotten a lot of kids killed when she led them on that failed strike against the adults. No. Why would Stacey give a crap about that? "I think you're just being paranoid," he finally said.

"Pretty sure everyone's paranoid," Luna answered and then she began to push the cart into another aisle and stopped when something caught her eye. She smiled.

Lynn noticed this. "What?" she asked and then looked to what her older sister was fixed on. She didn't know how to feel about it.

They were in the aisle with the all the alcoholic beverages. Luna went over to a bottle of Jack Daniels and held it up, studying it. The bottle had a security cap on it, but Luna was sure she could figure out a way to remove it.

"What are you doing?" Cooper asked, accusingly.

"What?" Luna said, innocently. "People are gonna need to unwind, somehow. Plus, I'd hate to see such good alcohol go to waste."

"But you can't drink alcohol," Cooper said.

"Says who?" Luna smirked.

Cooper opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.

Lynn watched her older sister put the bottle of alcohol in the cart. She'd always suspected Luna had been drinking, even before the world had changed. All the nights she spent out with friends, all the times she'd come home late at night, then she'd stumble up the stairs like walking up them was the hardest thing in the world. Most of the time she wouldn't even bother and just crash on the couch. And when her sisters tried to confront her about it, she'd just deny it and –

A sudden high-pitched scream sounded through the entire store. It sounded like it was coming from a different room. The three kids snapped their heads toward the sound all at once, frozen.

Lynn gripped her spiked club tight and Cooper raised his bat. Luna gripped her weapon, a hatchet and forgot all about the bottle of Jack Daniels she was holding.

They saw Brock briskly rush past them at the end of the aisle followed by a few other kids who didn't seem to have his confidence. That gave Lynn all the incentive she needed, and she quickly bounded after them. Luna dropped the bottle of alcohol, it broke but didn't shatter, and went after her younger sister. Cooper followed as well.

Brock reached a set of double doors that led into the backroom of the store. He stormed through them and was met with darkness, he shone his flashlight towards where he heard a commotion and was greeted by the sight of a bloodied body coming towards him. He raised his bat but quickly realized it was a girl. She was one of the girls who grouped with Stacey, her name was Nina, she was wearing white clothes that were stained red, and had a crazy look in her eyes.

"Nina," he called out and went to her, she collapsed in his arms. "What happened?"

She was sobbing. Tears were streaming down her face, washing away the blood that was seeping through a wound on her forehead. She lifted a weak, trembling hand towards something and Brock looked to see a body being dragged away. By now more kids had entered the backroom. Brock gingerly helped Nina up and led her to some other kids. "Take her outside and look for a First Aid Kit or something," he told two kids in particular, they nodded and led Nina away.

Brock angrily looked back in the direction he'd seen the body being dragged away and gripped his bat.

"We should get outta here," Shade said, taking a few steps back.

"No," Brock simply said. "Nina wasn't alone. Stacey and Bria were with her too, they could need our help." He looked at everyone, there were twelve kids that had gone with him on this expedition, so thirteen altogether. Nina and the two kids were away, Stacey and Bria were missing, so that meant it was eight of them against an unseen enemy. They all looked unsure. He tried to see who looked the least scared. Speck looked eager to help, as did Lynn. He asked Speck and Lynn to follow him. They both nodded.

"I'll help too," Luna spoke and stepped up.

"Same here," Cooper then said.

Brock nodded and then told the others to wait outside the doors to make sure whatever was in the room didn't escape. They all nodded and hurried out of the room.

Brock aimed his light at the floor. It was stained with blood, dry blood. Which meant that other people must have previously died here. He then slowly rose the light. There were several piles of boxes that were stacked higher than his head. It gave the room a maze-like appearance, it was rather disorienting, but Brock was able to keep his bearings about him.

"This way," he said and began to walk slowly but surely to where he'd seen the body being dragged away. He and the others were cautious as they passed by the stacks of boxes, making sure nothing would jump out at them. Soon, they reached and slowly peered around the stack where Brock had seen the body being dragged away. He saw a pair of legs sticking out from behind another stack of boxes. Brock recognized the shoes of the person. It was Stacey.

"Stacey," he silently called out.

No response.

He called out again, a little louder this time.

Still nothing.

"Is she…?" Cooper couldn't even finish his sentence.

"Only one way to find out," Brock responded.

He slowly made his way towards Stacey. Vigilantly looking out for the unseen danger. If whatever was responsible for hurting Nina was still in here, there was no way he was going to leave here without making sure he killed it.

Lynn was right behind him, practically breathing down his back. He had to hold out an arm to keep her from getting any closer. He admired her aspiration to help, but no way was he going to let anyone get ahead of him. He was the leader, no was else was going to die on his watch.

He was only a few feet away from Stacey before he spoke again. When he got no response again, he braced himself for what he was about to see. But he wasn't able to because as soon as he started to peek around the stack a large shape pounced from behind the same stack and roared.

Everyone screamed as Brock stumbled backwards, nearly falling over. He aimed his flashlight up and caught a quick glimpse of the culprit. It had green skin (of course); short, black hair that resembled a faux hawk; a thick mustache that angled downward; and glasses with cracked lens'. It raised its right arm, it was holding a weird-looking hammer that Brock had never seen before.

Brock swore and leapt backwards as the green swung the hammer down. The teen ended up backing into Lynn and both he and her fell backwards. The green began to storm forward, roaring and raising the hammer again. Luna and Cooper quickly helped Lynn up while Brock struggled to get up.

The green began to swing the hammer down again, Brock braced himself. Just then, Speck swung his club and knocked the hammer out of the greens hand it bounced off a stack of boxes and landed back in front of the furious grown-up. The green roared and snatched it of the ground while Speck helped Brock to his feet. The green lunged at them, but Brock managed to knock down one of the many stacks of boxes onto the adult, burying and pinning him to the floor. They seized their chance to escape.

They made it outside the double doors where Shade and two other kids who'd waited outside still remained, frozen in place, too scared to run off.

"Let's get out of here!" Cooper urged.

"No!" Brock said, firmly. "There's only one of him and eight of us. We can handle him better out here."

They heard heavy footsteps rapidly approaching. Angry footsteps, like the footsteps you'd hear from outside your room when a parent was approaching to discipline you.

Finally, the green bursts through the door, like the Kool-Aid man busting through a wall. Only instead of a pitcher of cherry Kool-Aid he was wielding his bloody hammer. He continued to roar and swing his hammer around in circles like it was a sparkler.

All of the kids screamed and backed up, one even ran away. Brock stood firm, though. Th adult was in a fury, no rhyme or reason to his swings. Luna and Lynn recognized the adult. He was the manager of this store, even in his state of disarray he had refused to leave this store. It had been his whole life, and he wouldn't let these hooligans ruin it.

Brock waited until the green swung his hammer in a direction away from him and then sprang for the attack. The adult wasn't fast enough to react and was taken down with one swing of Brock's bat.

An almighty meaty and metallic _bonk_ filled the kids ears and the adult fell, the store he was so fond of was now the place of his demise.

Brock hit him again and again for good measure, it wasn't until brain matter began to ooze from his crushed skull that the boy was satisfied.

They all stood around and stared at the corpse. The commotion had died down and was replaced by the sound of everyone's heavy breathing. Speck then stepped forward and picked up the hammer that the adult was holding, the dead green still had a good hold on it and Speck had to pry his fingers from it.

He studied it in the dim light. "Well here's something you don't see every day," he said, rather amused.

"What?" Brock asked.

Speck showed everyone the weapon. "Do you know what this is?"

"A hammer?" Brock presumed.

"Not just any hammer," Speck said. "It's a stunning hammer."

"Huh?" Brock and everyone else had confused looks on their faces.

"Back then, whenever people slaughtered animals and livestock they'd always hit the animals on the heads with hammers or mallets to knock them unconscious before doing the deed."

Everyone winced. "That's sick," Luna said.

Speck shrugged. He couldn't deny how messed up it was, but at the same time, it reminded him of how before the world changed, everyone would just buy and consume meat products without thinking about what the ultimate price was for said products. It was something everyone blocked out of their heads, just like no liked to think of famine, disease or wars at different countries. If it wasn't affecting them then they didn't care. Only now, everyone cared. No one could turn a blind eye to anything anymore. If they did it could very well cost them their own lives.

"So, you're saying this man was slaughtering kids like cattle?" Brock said.

"It definitely looks that way."

Everyone just stood frozen. This was just another grim reminder of the world they lived in. That no matter what, they would be nothing but prey to these adults and the only way to change that was to kill them before they themselves, were slaughtered.

"Let's go check with the others," Brock said, trying his best to keep his voice firm. He walked away, and the others followed. Speck remained at the back of the group. He took one last look at the tool in his hand and then threw it aside.

Up at the front of the store. They met the two kids, plus the one who'd run off earlier, standing in front of Nina, looking down at the girl pitifully, an open but unused First Aid Kit lie next to them.

"What are you doing?" Brock said to the kids. "Don't just stand there. Help her."

"We can't," one of them simply said. "She's dead."

"How do you know?"

"We just do," the other one answered. He didn't sound upset when he spoke, just disappointed. After all the death every kid had seen, a lot of them had grown indifferent to it.

Brock swore and shoved them aside. He checked Bria for a pulse and sure enough there was none.

It was quiet for a few seconds before Shade broke the awkward silence. "What should we do?"

Brock stood up and sniffed before finally speaking. "Help me put her body in a cart. Then we'll go retrieve Stacey's body and try and find Bria's. We'll bury them when we get back. But first we have to get this shopping done.

Luna and Lynn looked at each other and then went to help Brock recover the bodies. No doubt they'd hug their siblings just a little bit tighter when they got back to the school.

* * *

 _Several miles away._

Twelve-year-old Roxy Townsend ran through the streets of her destroyed and forlorn town, tears were traveling across her face and past her ears because of how fast she was running. It had all happened so fast. One minute she and her friends were all feeling truly alive for the first time in over a month. No adults had been spotted for days, they had plenty of food and fun little activates to get them through their days. Everyone was getting along at the small bar that she and her fellow survivors had managed to stay holed up in. But then those teenagers… those monsters, had ruined everything. They'd come out of nowhere, slaughtered everyone without hesitation or remorse.

Which just left her. She'd managed to barely slip past a few of them without being noticed, but when a pack of adults had appeared out of nowhere, her cover was blown. Now she was being chased by a group of angry teens and a pack of hungry adults.

Roxy wasn't wearing any shoes when the teens had attacked and all she had on her feet were a pair of socks that were now dirty and filled with holed at the bottom. Her soles were all cut up from running on sidewalks and pavement, and her sides were hurting from all the running she'd been doing in the last couple of minutes.

She stopped and caught her breath when she was sure she was a good distance away from her pursuers. Resting her back against a mailbox, she panted as quietly as she could, afraid that any breath would alert those monsters to her position. She shut her eyes tight and managed to fight back the bile that was rising in her stomach.

She took some more deep breaths and fought back the visions of her friends being slaughtered. The panic in her chest began to rise again and she suddenly felt reinvigorated to start running again.

Run.

That's all Roxy wanted to do. Run away and get as far away from this place and those people as possible. She broke into another sprint and rounded a corner to a shop when suddenly a body filled her entire vision and a sharp stinging pain filled her stomach. She let out a small gasp and her legs went limp. Before she could collapse to the ground. The body in front of her grabbed under her arm with one hand to keep her from falling and stepped back.

She looked up to see a pale, grinning face looking down at her. It was a boy. Sixteen by the looks of it, which couldn't be possible. Roxy's group had deduced that the disease affected people over the age of fifteen, turning their skin into a sickly green color. So either this kid was older than he looked, or was somehow immune to whatever turned the grown-ups into monsters. He had a shaved head, dark-brown eyes and was wearing dark clothing.

He leaned in and whispered. "Didn't run fast enough."

Roxy then looked down and saw that she'd been stabbed. The older boy then removed the large knife from her and let her fall to the ground.

Tears were flowing freely from the scared, injured girl as the older teen wiped the blade on her pants, then put it back in its sheath. He then grabbed Roxy by the hair and began to drag her away. The girl could do nothing but stare up at the sky as lines of darkness began to circle her vision and swallow it up like a black hole.

Which it did.

Roxy had only known the bliss of the abyss for a few precious moments before she felt herself being lifted up and then slammed down on something metallic. It sounded like a car hood. Roxy gave out a small cry but was still powerless to move. She just wanted this all to be over.

She heard what sounded like a seal barking in the distance, which was weird because they didn't live near a zoo.

Suddenly more teens were looking down at her, all of them just as sinister looking as the one who'd stabbed her. Some stepped aside as a girl with brown hair and hazel-colored eyes appeared and looked down at Roxy with a look that seemed to display sympathy.

Roxy just looked at her with what she was sure were pleading eyes. The girl lifted a hand and rubbed Roxy's cheek with the back of hand like a mother would to a sleeping child.

Roxy whimpered, but the girl just softly, shushed her. "Don't worry, sweetie. It'll all be over soon.

The twelve-year-old heard the sound of something being scribbled on paper, then heard the boy who'd stabbed her ask if someone was done writing it down. Whatever "it" was.

"Yeah, I'm done," the person responded.

"Good," the boy with the shaved head said and then turned his attention back to Roxy and, without missing a beat, took out a machete and brought it down on Roxy's neck.

The little girl was conscious and aware of everything as her head rolled down the hood of the car and then slammed down on the ground. She blinked a few times, her vision becoming blurry from the tears, she wanted to bring a hand up to wipe them away but couldn't feel anything from the neck down.

And then she couldn't feel or see anything at all.

* * *

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was a little shorter than most, mainly because I'm just stalling for time until The Doom arrives._

 _I'll try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible. Not sure when, though. Because like I said, I'm stalling._


	15. Calm

**The Doom**

 **Chapter 2: Calm**

* * *

 **Sorry this chapter took so long to update despite being so short.**

 **Also, thanks for the 19k views so far.**

* * *

 **corndogman: No. Chris didn't care about anyone but himself.**

* * *

 _Before the Blast._

Escape.

That was the word that echoed through Kyle Murdoch's head every second of every day. Held prisoner in the counties Juvenile detention center until he was eighteen. The teen desired nothing more.

He mostly kept to himself and out of trouble. The guards were already abusive enough as it was. No doubt if anyone outside found out how he and his fellow prisoners were being treated this place would be closed down faster than it would take to empty an entire cartridge from an AR-15. Of course, this place knew how to keep up appearances and make it look as though the prisoners were being treated well. Not that anyone would care if they weren't. Everyone who was here was here for a reason. Murder, rape, kidnapping. You name it.

Who knows? Anyone here could've ended up becoming the most prolific serial killer in history if they hadn't had been caught so soon. That was another thing, if you were here now, there was a possibility that you'd offer nothing of value to society if you did get out, no chance of rehabilitation. No one here felt an ounce of guilt for what they'd done.

Well, there was one kid here who felt bad for what he'd done. Some spic named Logan who'd claimed he'd only killed a person out of self-defense. That he'd done the deed in order to protect some bitch. A lot of good that did him.

Kyle hated when people tried to be heroes. He always looked out for himself, anyone who put others first was just asking for trouble. Like a person who picks up a hitchhiker, or a person who tries to push someone out of the way of a moving vehicle; or in Logan's case, had tried to save a girl who was about to get raped at a party. Kyle didn't know the specifics, didn't care to either. Although he did find it cool that this kid had killed someone, unlike him. God Kyle couldn't stand being teased over the fact that he had failed in his mission to shoot up Royal Woods High School. They'd call him a scrub, tell him to _get good._

Well, the only reason he wasn't able to tell anyone was because someone had told on him. At first, he'd thought it was his parents, but nope. It was actually a girl. A girl he'd confided in. Her name was Sadie Black, she was emo and hated life just like Kyle did.

Or so she claimed.

The moment he'd told her his plans. She looked a little unsettled. Kyle should've taken that as a hint that she would betray him and snitch on his ass to the authorities. God help her if he ever were to escape from this hellhole. He'd come for her first, as obvious as that would be, he just didn't care. Sure, he wanted to kill as many people as possible, but if it came down to her or one thousand faceless nobody's, he'd choose her one thousand times over.

But first things first:

Escape

* * *

Lincoln Loud and the rest of the kids who resided in Royal Woods elementary school hadn't felt this happy in weeks.

They thought they'd never be able to use electronics again, never watch movies or TV shows, or play video games, or do all the other things they'd taken for granted. But now they could, all thanks to the new kid who'd arrived a few weeks ago.

Jack Wright was his name. It was surreal when he showed up in his tractor-trailer. Everyone had assumed that vehicles could no longer run. When asked about it he just claimed that he'd found one that worked. And imagine everyone's surprise when he'd revealed the contents inside the trailer; a working portable generator with plenty of fuel to keep it working for months, and all other kinds of electronics such as a projector to watch movies on and some video game and handheld consoles, Television sets, a boom box (none of the kids had seen one of those in a while), mini refrigerators, microwave ovens and air conditioners.

Everyone hypothesized that these things survived the blast because the trailer they were stored in was resistant to EMP waves.

Of course, the generator couldn't power everything at once, they always made sure to power the essentials and saved the entertainment-oriented devices for special occasions such as movie night or video game nights. The generator itself was fifteen thousand watts and boy it was loud. Luckily, they had plenty of extension cords to keep the machine and the noise away from everyone.

Needless to say, everyone instantly fell in love with Jack because of it. He was also a super nice guy. He always had a smile on his face and was eager to help others. He always seemed to come up with the right words to cheer people up. Several kids had been absolutely distraught after the battle with the green army, and they had been from the immediate day after to when Jack showed up a few weeks later.

Being able to play video games or watch movies or heat food was a good way to forget about the world and provide a form of escapism. Some things never changed. Before the blast, kids used to get lost in all sorts of activities to make them forget about their troubles, and even after the world went mad, they relied on them for solace.

"It's my turn to use the Snap!" one kid whose name was Andy cried.

"In a minute, just let me beat this level," Chandler, the kid who was currently using the gaming device that was called the Super-Snap 95, responded.

"You said that like five levels ago," Andy retorted, reaching over to try and take the console away from the red-haired boy.

"Hey you two! Settle down or I'm taking that thing away!" a girl with medium-length blonde, wavy hair whose name was Lexi said. And with that, the complaining boy loosened his grip on the Snap and Chandler jerked away from him. Originally the truck contained two Super-Snap 95's but one of them had broken because some people just didn't like to share and the thing broke into two pieces, prompting Luan to comment how the thing _snapped_ in half.

A few minutes later Chandler beat the level he was on and handed the console to Andy, right as the battery died.

Andy swore. Once the battery for the Snap died that meant nobody would be able to play it again until it was one hundred percent charged. And seeing as though it was a device that wasn't necessary for survival, that meant other more important devices took priority over it when it came to be powered by the generator. Who knew when anyone would get a chance to play it again? He cocked his arm back, about to throw the Snap at Chandler, not before Lexi intervened.

"I'll take that," she said and walked away to store the Snap away much like a parent would do to punish a misbehaving child.

Lincoln wanted to roll his eyes. Everyone here may have gone through some traumatizing events that could've aged them by fifty years, but they were all still kids at heart. Most of whom were currently sitting around the gym. The white-haired boy was sitting next to his sisters.

"I guess you could you could say, he was about to _snap_ ," Luan joked.

Lincoln and his younger sisters groaned. Seeing as though kids constantly got angry over the Snap, that just made it way too easy for Luan to make puns about it. Not that Lincoln secretly wasn't happy that she was back to making puns.

"I'm bored," Lana said after a few seconds of silence.

"Why don't you go back to working on the bus?" Lincoln suggested.

"There's nothing _to_ work on?" Lana said. Sometime after the battle against the horde, Lana had begun to work on fixing up the bus with a boy named Carl who was also savvy when it came to auto mechanics. Of course, he wasn't as savvy as Lana. The two of them had managed to fix up the bus and replace its tires basically making it as good as new. It currently resided behind the auditorium in the spot where delivery trucks used to park to make deliveries. It was there just in case another dangerous horde of grown-up were to ever appear again, and they needed a quick getaway.

Everyone prayed that that would never happen. Despite all that had happened, they liked it here. Royal Woods was their home.

"What about the plumping?" Lincoln then asked.

"This is me you're talking to, Lincoln," the little handyman responded, meaning that the schools plumbing system was in top shape.

Lincoln didn't know what more to say.

Lucy then sighed. Everyone looked at her. "I just wished they'd left a few of the adults around so we could watch them rot."

Lincoln raised an eyebrow. He remembered how a few weeks earlier he's suggested that Lucy could go look out the school windows to try and see if she could see any dead bodies, to which she'd refused (It was a messed-up thing for Lincoln to suggest anyway). But now she actually wanted to see dead bodies? He guessed that it was a result of everything that had happened, she'd become darker than she already was, or as dark as someone who was currently reading a Princess Pony book could be (Lucy finally told her sisters that she liked Princess Pony; they didn't care at this point).

"No thank you," Lola, who was sitting with the back of her head resting against Lincoln's arm, practically shouted. "I've seen more than enough dead bodies already, and if I see one more…" She shuddered after the pause.

Lincoln frowned. Everyone had been through so much, they'd lost friends and family. He and his sisters had lost their parents and three of their sisters; and Lincoln had lost his best friend in the entire world. Clyde McBride had been with him since the very second this all began. He'd helped Lincoln when Mrs. Johnson started attacking students and he'd helped Lincoln rescue his sisters and, in the end, it costed him his life. Lincoln was forever grateful. He knew Clyde would do it all over again if he could. Lincoln made sure that _he_ was the one to bury Clyde once it was time to start digging graves. After all was said and done, Lincoln resolved that he would live for his friend, his family and every kid who had died to secure this place and keep it safe.

And live for the living as well.

That's when the doors to the gym opened and a teenage boy walked in a few kids turned to look and smiled when they saw who it was, while others were too invested in what they were doing to care. Jack Wright, the kid who made all of this possible strolled casually into the gym towards Lexi.

She smiled as she walked over to him. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Jack said, his voice sounded sad. He looked very upbeat when he arrived at the school in the big semitruck, and he was always happy ninety percent of the time, but the other ten percent was spent looking sad, not constantly frowning sad, but sad as in, he had a lost look in his eyes. He spent a lot of time on the roof some nights, staring into the distance, like he was looking for someone, or waiting for something. Heck, he spent more time up there than Tucker did. When asked about it, he'd simply respond that he was thinking of simpler times, and when also asked about how what he did before the world went mad, he just said, _nothing important._ He wouldn't even talk about how he managed to survive out there for weeks and if he'd lost anyone. When it came to the former question, everyone just assumed the truck kept him safe.

"Any luck?" Lexi asked.

Jack shook his head.

Lexi sighed. "You know you don't have to waste your time on him, right? You don't even know him."

"I know," Jack said. "I just hate to see people so upset." Jack and Lexi were referring to Joey. Ever since his best friend Duke died, Joey had spent all of his time locked away in what was once the principal's office. Only leaving to go to the bathroom and to get some food. He wouldn't talk to anybody and wouldn't even leave to spend movie night with everyone. No one but Jack tried to reach him. Mostly because they were afraid of him. He was easily the strongest kid here. He'd even killed that adult that everyone had dubbed, The Tower. It had taken six teens to drag that adult over to the pile of dead adults that they'd mounded so they could burn the corpses. No one ever wanted to mess with the person who was responsible for that particular grown-ups death. "I've always been someone that people could look to if they needed to feel emboldened. Know what I mean? I always put others first."

"We know, and we love you for that," Lexi said. "But you got to know when to give it a rest. I'm sure he'll come around once he feels like talking."

Jack nodded. "I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right," she chuckled. "Now what do you say we get things ready? It is movie night after all."

Jack smiled. "My favorite night."

* * *

The sun was beginning to set. Lincoln and his sisters were starting to get worried as they waited for Luna and Lynn to return with the others. They knew that there were hardly any grown-ups around since only a few stragglers had been spotted in the last couple of weeks. But even if you didn't have to worry about the greens, there were still other hidden dangers. What if one of them tripped and broke their leg? Or fell on a sharp piece of metal sticking out of the ground and were impaled? Or were attacked by rabid dogs or wild animals that had escaped from a zoo or something?

"They're back," someone near the gym doors announced.

Lincoln and his siblings sprang up. Some kids began to walk through the doors, they didn't look so happy, like something had gone wrong when they were out there. Like someone had died.

The Loud siblings feared the worst when they suddenly spotted Luna and Lynn entering the room.

" _Una, inn,"_ said Lily, who had been sleeping in a nearby baby carrier but was now wide awake.

They all smiled. Lincoln picked up Lily and began to hurry with the rest of his sisters over to their fellow siblings, who smiled when they saw them approaching. Lana and Lola wrapped their arms around Luna's legs, she responded to this by patting them on the heads.

"Hey, don't I get any love?" Lynn asked when she saw them do that.

They answered by going over to her and doing the same thing.

"So how did everything go?" Lincoln asked.

Luna and Lynn frowned.

"Well we were able to find some useful things but…" Luna started, but ended up pausing.

"It came with a cost," Lynn finished for her older sister.

Lincoln's head turned from one sister to the other. "What happened?" he asked.

They told them about how they encountered an adult, more specifically the manager of the local supermarket their mom always went to when she went shopping. How he killed members from the scavenging party and almost killed more.

Lincoln gulped.

"But you got him, right?" Lola asked, urgently.

Luna nodded. "Yeah, he won't be hurting anyone else anymore."

"Well, I'm glad you two made it out," Lincoln said. Not realizing how insensitive he sounded to the victims until the words were out of his mouth.

"Who died?" Lucy asked, sounding more curious than concerned.

Luna and Lynn told them who is was.

Lucy simply nodded. Which could have meant anything. Her siblings were really beginning to wonder what was going through her mind.

Lily began to stir in Lincoln's arm. She held out her arms wanting nothing more than to be held by Luna.

"Looks like someone really missed you guys," Lincoln said, handing his youngest sister to his oldest living sister.

Luna cradled Lily in her arms and cooed.

"Anyway," Lynn said, about to change the subject, "isn't tonight movie night, or something."

"Yeah," Lincoln said, "I think Jack was about to hook up the projector. Were you guys able to find any DVD's?"

Lynn nodded. "Boy were we. I'm actually surprised there were still plenty of them lying around."

"I guess movies were the last thing people were thinking about as adults were devouring children," Luna said.

Lynn shrugged. "I guess so. But at least now it's at the point where we can watch movies to forget about adults devouring children."

* * *

Some of the older kids were all gathered around their stockpile of DVD's, most of which were the cheesy types of movies you'd get from the bargain bin at the store.

"What the heck is this?" Lexi asked. Picking up a DVD case where five threatening looking wolf heads stared harshly towards the viewer on the cover. The title read: _Dog Soldiers_. "Who the heck thought this would be a good movie to watch?"

"I did," Shade said.

Lexi rolled her eyes. "Of course you did," she said, then tossed the movie back into the pile. "These kids don't need any more nightmares."

"I'm sure they can handle it, and besides, it's a good movie."

Lexi scoffed. "Whatever."

"Hey, don't belittle the excellence of Scottish werewolf movies."

Brock wasn't too focused on selecting what to watch, his mind kept going back to earlier in the day. Kept thinking about how Stacey, Nina and Bria had been killed. How could he have been so careless? They all should've stuck together and checked the place out and not assumed that the place was empty just because no adults came when they called. But you know what they say about assuming: When you assume you make an ass of you and me.

Then there was how they just buried them and that was that. They would soon be forgotten. Grass and shrubbery would grow over their unmarked graves, time wouldn't stop, and the world would continue to turn.

A few feet away the Loud siblings were all huddled together, chatting away. A few familiar faces were beside them. Maggie was right behind Luan like a shadow. Yin and Yang, cheerfulness and sullenness. Everyone thought it was weird seeing them next to each other. Cringey even, like a bad OTP. But it was there, right in front of their eyes. In a world as mad as this, why should anyone be shocked by Luan Loud and Maggie being girlfriends.

Cooper was right next to Lynn Loud. They weren't a couple, just good friends, but it was obvious that Cooper liked Lynn. Their pairing would be more believable than Luan and Maggie's if they ever were to become a couple. They were both athletic and competitive, they'd always go outside and shoot some hoops. Lynn would always win, though. She beat Cooper at everything, and unlike Lynn, Cooper was a good sport about it. Always laughing and congratulating Lynn. Unlike most of the other kids in the school who couldn't take it when Lynn shook her butt at them whenever she beat them at a board game. There had been a time when she'd promised her siblings not to gloat as much back before the world went crazy, but that time was gone. She needed to gloat to take her mind off how messed up the world was. And don't even get everyone started on the one time Shade Walker beat her at checkers. No one knew how he did it, she challenged him to rematch, after rematch, after rematch; but no matter what, he beat her every time. This caused her to swear off board games and take her anger out on Cooper by mopping the floor with him at basketball. It was the only sport she played at this point, but Cooper didn't mind. It was his favorite sport and playing it with Lynn was the only time alone he got to spend with her.

"When are we going to watch a movie?" Lola impatiently asked, throwing her head back.

"As soon as they find one," Lincoln answered. The white-haired by then sensed someone standing behind him, he turned and saw three familiar faces. Faces of girls who he recognized; Girl Jordan, Mollie and Cristina. They all looked at him shyly, even though Girl Jordan and Mollie were friends with him. Cristina was a different story. A story that had long been buried under current events.

Girl Jordan spoke, "Hey, Lincoln. Is it all right if we sit by you?"

Lincoln hadn't spoken to the three of them in quite a while. Even so, he didn't mind them sitting next to him. Of course, before he could answer their question, his sisters answered it for him.

"Of course you can," they all said at once (with the exception of Lily), like a six-headed monsters whose minds worked in tandem. They all scooted so Lincoln's friends could sit next to him.

Lincoln could feel himself blushing, would he have to remind his sisters yet again that these girls are just his friends?

Luna Loud was sitting near the end of the huddle, too focused on what was going on with Lincoln to notice that someone had approached her as well.

As soon as she felt that certain someone's presence, she looked to see none other than her friend and crush Sam Sharp and her little brother Simon, the younger sibling standing sheepishly behind his older sisters.

"Sam…?" Was all Luna could manage to utter.

"Hey, Lunes," Sam greeted, her voice soft and friendly. "Mind if we sit next to you?"

"Not at all," Luna quickly said, and scooted over to give them some room.

Sam returned the gesture with a smile and sat down, wrapping her arms protectively around her brother once he sat down in her lap.

Luna wished Sam would put her arms around her, or vice versa. She looked away from her fellow rocker friend before she noticed that Luna was staring at her. The musically talented Loud then looked at the projector screen for a few seconds and then at her siblings who were all giving her the same stupid grins she was positive she was just giving Lincoln.

Now Luna was the one who was blushing. Why couldn't she just not give a crap like Luan?

That's when one of the double doors to the gym opened and in walked Stan and Mary and Mary's little brother, Matt. It was dark and the lights from some of the lanterns lit around the gym cast dark shadows on their faces.

Lincoln tried his best not to stare, but just couldn't help himself. Mary had a hideous scar on the side of her face. From what Lincoln had heard (from Chandler of all people), she'd suffered the injury after being struck by an adult who used chains like a whip. That couldn't have been fun. And since that day, Mary had been incredibly self-conscious of her appearance, always hiding behind Stan. Making sure the damaged side of her face was facing away from everyone.

"Yo, Stan! I saved you a spot," someone shouted.

Lincoln looked to see Shade Walker sitting a few feet away with an arm raised.

Stan ignored him and just sat down with Mary and Matt at the back of the gym near that boy who called himself Speck.

"I guess he didn't hear me," Shade said to no one in particular.

 _Oof._ Lincoln thought. He knew how it felt to be ignored.

The white-haired boy then turned back to the projector. The movie was about to start. Apparently, the older kids had decided on the movie _Frozen._

Lola and Lana seemed excited. Lincoln wished he could get excited, but he'd already suffered enough when that movie was at the height of its popularity. He didn't see how someone could not be tired of that movie by this point. Then again, after all that had happened, if being forced to sit through _Frozen_ for the millionth time was the worst thing that could possibly happen to him today, or for the rest of his life, he'd take it.

The last few lantern flames were extinguished and everything was dark, minus the screen.

It was time to forget about everything that had happened to them over the last few months and enjoy the moment.

* * *

 _Several miles away._

Jason sat at picnic table in the middle of a park. The name of the park? He didn't bother trying to figure out. Why would it matter what its name was? It was probably named after some guy who had long since died. Hell, he might as well come up with a new name for the park since the history of said park would probably end up being lost to history.

 _Shit Park? Fuck Park? Linkin Park?_

Yeah. _Fuck Park_ would do.

He then realized he could do better than naming this park. He could rename the whole United States if he wanted to.

Jasonland: Home of the Dead. Land of the Batshit Insane.

He chuckled to himself and then went back to the task at hand, pointing a flashlight that he was holding, pointing it down on a map that was sprawled on the table in front of him. The map was given to him by a dear friend. A friend who had set out to accomplish his own goals. A friend who they were all trying to find.

He'd marked locations on the map where Jason and the others could find him. So far, they'd gone through all but one. Of course he'd be at the last place they checked. That's just how life worked. If the Doom walked straight there without stopping, they could be there in about –

" _Uh!"_

Jason just about jumped out of his skin. He'd been so focused on the map, he hadn't noticed Jeffy sneak up behind him.

"Hey, Jason. I pooped my pants.," Jeffy announced.

"That's nice, Jeffy," Jason said, dismissively, looking for someone else Jeffy could bother. That's when he spotted Flaggy, still wearing sunglasses despite the fact that it was nighttime his gaze downcast at his notebook, the pencil he was holding moving in a blur as he wrote down word after word.

"Go see what Flaggy's doing."

"Okay," Jeffy chirped and went on his merry little way to the poor, unfortunate writer.

Flaggy was too focused on writing to notice the bicycle-helmet-wearing, diaper-on-the-outside-of-his-pants, pencil-up-his-nose looking boy.

"Hey Faggy! What doing?"

Flaggy wasn't one to be startled easily, so he just began to talk. "Oh, I'm just working on another – " That's when he realized what Jeffy had said.

"Wait. What did you call me?"

"Faggy," Jeffy answered.

Flaggy's brows crinkled in confusion. "Uh. My name's Flaggy."

"That's what I said. Faggy."

"No, you said Faggy. My name's Flaggy."

"I know, Faggy."

"Flaggy."

"Faggy."

"Flaggy.

"Faggy."

"Fuh-laggy."

"Fuh-aggy."

Now Flaggy, was mad. That's when an idea popped into his head. Maybe he should try Bugs Bunny-ing him. "Faggy," he said.

Jeffy suddenly grabbed Flaggy by his shirt and tugged him closer until their faces were barely touching. "What did you call me?" Jeffy demanded.

Now it looked like Jeffy wasn't going to be the only one who would crap his pants today.

Flaggy's mind frantically searched for something to say but could come up with nothing. He was only good at expressing himself through writing.

"Jeffy, no!" someone said and Flaggy was flooded with relief to see Lydia marching over to reprimand Jeffy.

Jeffy looked too.

"We don't hurt our own," she said, wagging a finger. "Bad boy, Jeffy."

 _Oh no._ Flaggy thought, as Jeffy's grip on him tightened.

Jeffy began to cry. "You said Jeffy's a bad boy?" He whined and then began to slam his helmet into Flaggy's face, causing the writer to cry out in pain with every hit.

"Please… for the love of… STOP!"

"Okay! Okay!" Lydia cried. "You're a good boy."

"You said Jeffy's a good boy?" he asked.

"Yes, Jeffy," Lydia reassured him. "Now come on. It's time for bed."

"Okay," Jeffy chirped, releasing his grip on Flaggy and following behind Lydia.

The author just lied on his back staring up at the night sky, unsure of which stars were real and which ones were just his imagination. He blinked back tears and brought a hand to his face. His nose stung when he touched it and then he noticed that his sunglasses were no longer on his face. He shot up to a sitting position and scanned the ground, feeling around with his hands.

He eased up a little once he finally felt them. He picked them up, but to his horror they were completely busted.

Flaggy suddenly sprang to his feet and yelled. "He broke my fucking sunglasses!" Wincing when he realized that it hurt to yell.

"That's what you get for wearing them at night like a douchebag," someone said.

Flaggy swore at whoever said that and then marched over to Jason, like a first grader about to tell the teacher on someone for calling him a mean name. When he told Jason what had happened, the boy just regarded him with complete indifference.

"Well aren't you going to do anything?" Flaggy whined. "I hate Jeffy! I want him to just disappear."

"Sorry," Jason said, "but more people like Jeffy than hate him, so that means he gets to stay."

"But he's an obnoxious little shit and he broke my nose!" Flaggy continued.

Jason just stood up and shone the light in Flaggy's face. The writer was confused at first and then cried out it pain when Jason put a hand on his nose and squeezed, then twisted.

"There. All better. Now get some sleep. We got a long week ahead of us."

Flaggy just stood there as Jason went back to studying the map. As much as he just wanted to take that map and rip it up, he knew how important finding their friend was.

It would all be worth it in the end.

* * *

 _I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I hope I can get the next chapter out quicker, but I don't know. I promise once I get over this hump this stories going to start flying._


	16. The End

**I'm very sorry everyone, but I've lost all motivation to complete this story. Instead, here is a summary of everything that was going to happen in this story.**

* * *

 **THE END**

I'm at a loss so let's just start with when the Doom attacks the school.

Lynn and Cooper were going to be finishing a game of basketball. Lynn would've beaten Cooper and walked back into the school after gloating. Cooper decides to stay out and practice some more. Lynn watches him through a set of double doors and begins to realize that she's crushing hard on him. That's when Jeffy comes out of nowhere and decapitates Cooper with one swing of a machete. Lynn is shocked by this and begins to walk slowly away from the doors. The school begins to shake.

Cut to a few seconds earlier to where Lincoln and his siblings, sans Lily who is sleeping in a room that had been converted into a nursery, are all playing in the gym. The whole building shakes which is cause by a semi-truck being rammed through the front doors. and then older kids begin to flood the school and kill everyone indiscriminately. The list of victims includes Mary, Matt, Chandler, Doug, Joey and Brock to name a few (Kasho kills Matt and Mary who is then killed by Stan; Jeffy kills Joey).

We learn that the older kids weren't affected by the virus because they were in medically induced comas when The Blast occurred. They can, however, communicate with the infected adults telepathically. We also learn that Jack's real name is Kyle Murdoch and he is the one who led the murderous teens to the school via telepathy.

As the attack is happening Lynn loses a hand while fighting off some of the teens who were about to kill Lily. Lincoln ends up killing Kyle because of this.

Eventually the group of teens becomes so overwhelming that the elementary school group is forced to flee on a bus.

Jason becomes the leader of The Doom and orders a boy named Logan "The Running Man" Lopez to follow the bus since he can run great distances without needing to take breaks. He brings along some adults with him who lumber after him.

After several miles, the elementary school group stops the bus to collect their thoughts and assess who was killed in the attack. Lincoln and his sisters are all still alive, but Lynn will die if she doesn't get her arm treated.

Suddenly a new group of kids appears and orders everyone off the bus.

The new group is another bad group of kids who call themselves "The Competitors." They've taken up fort in an indoor stadium; They're led by a boy named Aaron.

They let Lincoln's group rest up before forcing them to fight an onslaught of grown-ups. Before the match, Tucker tries to reason with Aaron who just ends up ordering one of his fellow competitors to kill the boy by shooting him with an arrow.

Meanwhile, Logan arrives outside the stadium and sneaks inside. He see's Lincoln and telepathically tells the grown-ups not to kill him, since The Doom wants to personally see Lincoln die since he was the one who killed Kyle.

The elementary school group manages to hold the grown-ups at bay but are soon overwhelmed. Lynn really starts to be affected from her wound and begins to zone out and wander away from her family. She hallucinates that she has accomplished her dream of becoming a big sports star before being attacked by a large, tall grown-up that the competitors named: _The Iron Maiden_ because he has spikes impaled through his body. Lynn is killed when the Iron Maiden falls on her and is impaled. Lincoln and his other siblings can do nothing but watch helplessly.

Logan is moved by how the white-haired boy is giving his all to protect the people he loves. This prompts The Running Man to recall how he ended up getting sent to the recreational facility he and the Doom resided at. He was framed after trying to protect a schoolmate from being attacked, thus causing him to want revenge on the world. He moves the idea of revenge out of his head and orders the adults to attack the Competitors instead.

Logan then helps the elementary school group escape right as the Doom arrives. Jason kills Logan for betraying the Doom (as well as Aaron when he runs into him).

Stan, Speck and Shade end up getting into a scuffle with Jeffy and Flaggy and manage to kill the two Doom members.

Lincoln is leading his younger sisters to the bus as Luna and Luan fight off more grown-ups. Lincoln manages to kill some grown-ups as well until he see's an infected Lynn Loud Sr. and hesitates. His dad ends up biting him on the neck before his sisters are able to fight him off.

They manage to escape on the bus.

Several miles later, Lincoln is beginning to become messed up from the wound on his neck caused by his dad. His siblings manage to convince the kid driving the bus (Whose name is Carl) to stop at a hospital to look for medicine.

The kids who go into the hospital are Luna, Luan, Maggie, Stan and Speck. The rest stay on the bus. Speck stands guard as the rest manage to find some medicine but are quickly ambushed by grown-ups. Stan gets enraged as the events of the past several hours catch up with him and as he is attacking the adults, his mace gets embedded into the skull of an adult and he manages to pull it out with all his might, striking Luan who is standing next to him. Horrified, Stan flees and abandons Luna and Maggie, who try in vain to carry the injured Luan away, but she ends up dying. Her last thoughts are of herself standing in front of the largest audience in the world making everyone laugh with her jokes.

Luna and Maggie are then surrounded and devoured. Luna's last thoughts are of that the grown-ups are actually rabid fans of hers and that she's performing on a grand stage.

Stan runs outside and tells Speck that the others are dead and to return to the bus.

Lucy, Lola and Lana don't take the news of their sister's deaths well. Lincoln is too out of it from blood loss to make sense of anything, and Lily is too young to understand what's happening but cries anyway.

The bus then reaches a bridge that is jammed with cars. Several kids leave the bus to move the cars aside. Stan, who is overcome with guilt, confessed to Speck that he killed Luan and left the rest to die, he then gives Speck his mace and before Speck can do anything, Stan jumps off the bridge, never resurfacing after he hits the water below.

As soon as the group manages to clear the cars, they hear the sound of vehicles approaching. The remaining Doom members have commandeered working vehicles and are now growing near. The bus drives further on before running out of gas as they reach a city. Everyone hurries out of the bus, hoping to find a building to take refuge in. While all this is happening, another group of kids is watching everything go down, they debate on whether or not to help the newcomers; they decide to help them. One of the kids even takes out a light machine gun to mow down the grown-ups with.

The Doom finally catches up with the Royal Woods group, and a final scuffle ensues. Speck manages to shoot Lydia in the neck, and she is then devoured by grown-ups as she bleeds out. Speck then shoots Jason around the hip and he disappears behind some cars before sneaking up on Speck. The two scuffle and Speck manages to kill Jason by digging his fingers into his bullet wound, tearing the skin open and ripping out his guts.

The group then begins to get surrounded by a horde of adults who emerge from several hiding spots. A final stand follows and Lincoln, who is on the edge of death becomes delirious and sees his house, the Loud House, right in front of him. He begins to walk towards it. His younger sisters who are being held back by the older kids, scream at him to come back. The screams don't affect Lincoln who is instead imagining that the screams are coming from inside the house that he is imagining. He figures his siblings want him to help them with something. Lincoln states that a brother's work is never done, before a sensation of falling comes over him and he blacks out. The younger Louds watch helplessly as Lincoln is surrounded by grown-ups.

That's when the sound of gunfire erupts, and a path is cleared. A different group of kids appear and transport the kids to safety. Meanwhile the kid with the machine guns continues to mow down the grown-ups. The younger Loud sisters scream for him to stop but their shouts don't reach him as he shoots the grown-ups who had surrounded Lincoln. The younger Louds begin to cry as they fear that Lincoln was shot in the crossfire.

The Royal Woods group finally reach the safety of a well-fortified building. The leader of the group, a 15-year-old named Shawn, introduces himself and asks if everyone's all right. Lincoln's sisters blame the boy with the machine gun, whose name is Nick of killing their brother; Nick claims he had no idea that their brother was among that group of adults.

Later, after everything's calmed down and the remaining adults have dispersed. Some of the kids from this new group go out to burn the bodies of the dead adults. When they reach the area where Lincoln's sisters believe he was killed, they find an open manhole cover but no sign of Lincoln. They assume Lincoln fell down the hole and died before covering it up and forgetting about it.

A few weeks later, after the Royal Woods group has become well integrated with the new group of kids. The remaining Louds: Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lily meet with a boy named Mark Christopherson. Mark is writing a book chronicling the lives of everyone who lives in the building. Hoping to preserve everything that has happened for future generations to learn about.

He asks the Loud sisters to tell him about their lives as well as the lives of their loved ones.

Lucy, Lana, Lola and Lily all smile fondly.

* * *

Meanwhile, several miles away, Ronnie Anne is taking refuge in her family's apartment. She watches helplessly as a group of grown-ups tries to break in.

* * *

List of characters from the Royal Woods group who are still alive (for now):

Lucy Loud

Lana Loud

Lola Loud

Lily Loud

Sam Sharp

Simon Sharp

Dominic Garder (Speck)

Brian Allen

Marco

Patrick

Carl

Grace

Sanjay Bassi

Shade Walker

Aubrey

Lexi

That's all that I can think of. Anyone who was not named is most likely dead.

* * *

 _Again, I'm very sorry that I was unable to complete this story. I was just totally unsatisfied with everything that had led up to this point and really think that I could've done a much better job. There are several characters and scenes that I regret putting in here._

 _Thanks to everyone who has stuck with me since the beginning, you guys deserve better than this. Hopefully someday I can try to redo this story. For now, I'll just have to see if I can do right by you all with the spin-off featuring Ronnie Anne (if I ever get around to it). Hopefully only having one character be the main focus instead of nine will be better._

 _Also, you can follow me on FictionPress, My username there is the same._


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